"Cultivating a Culture of Peace"

“Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14)

Culture is a way of thinking and behaving according to certain values that become rooted in a specific society. Culture by its very name indicates the necessity of cultivation. Each of these Christian cultural qualities has been put into the heart of every Christian by virtue of the fact that Christ is in our hearts and He is the very personification of each of them. He is Joy. He has a deep respect for the house of God. He is the Head of the house of God.

The seed of the word of peace has been planted in the soil of our hearts; it is up to us to cultivate our hearts by breaking up the hard fallow ground of our heart, fight the devil until that is done, and clear out the weeds and rocks (Mt.13). If you think you’re going to capture a culture of peace for your heart and home by simply reading this page and going about your merry way, you couldn’t be more wrong. That’s never going to happen. Cultivating requires plowing, much work. Cultivating is meditating, and speaking the word that has come to us until our hearts are full of faith to live out that spiritual quality.

Joshua 1:8 gives us the key to cultivating, “This book of the Lord shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Who doesn’t want good success? This is the way to cultivate peace in your heart, mind, home, and church. The peace of God in our spirit must become rooted in our soul, and then in our bodies. That takes cultivation.

The Psalmist tells us to seek peace and pursue it. Sounds redundant but it is not. Seek and pursue are two different words. It’s like this. When I was a youth my dad and three uncles were avid coon hunters with dogs. The dogs had two kinds of barks when you let then out into the woods to hunt raccoons. They would immediately start hunting or seeking coons, giving off a certain bark. During that bark we would wonder toward their barks. The dogs would scan the woods seeking a coon. They were looking for any sign of one. Then when they picked up a scent their bark would change.  They went into the pursuit mode. They were running after that coon with all they had. That’s when the men would pick up the pace. Ps.34:14 uses these two images: seek and pursue peace. Peace is elusive because we live in a world that has a history of conflict. Therefore we must seek and pursue peace.

· Jesus is our Peace. He’s the Prince of Peace.

· Peace with God is achieved by faith in Jesus our Savior (Rm.5:1) and our unconditional surrender to Him as Lord.

· The Peace of God is God’s utter sense of well-being in us through rejecting worry and fear, praying with thanksgiving, and thinking (meditating on) good positive holy thoughts (Philippians 4:6-9).

· God is the God of Peace. It’s in His name (Jehovah-Shalom) because it’s in His nature.

· Peace is part of His kingdom. (Rm.14:7)

· Peace is the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. (Gal.5:22)

· We are to pursue Peace with all men. (Heb.12:14; Rm.14:19)

· Peacemakers are called by Jesus “children of God.” (Mt.5:9)

· We are to speak peace over ourselves, our people, and our circumstances. Jesus spoke, “Peace be still.”

· God is a Man of War against those who will not be peaceful on His terms. (Ex.15:3)

· Solomon’s name means Peace.

Study Solomon’s story in First Kings, chapters 1-10 and Second Chronicles, chapters 1-9.

“During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety.” (1Ki.4:25)       

The peaceful reign of Solomon teaches us several things:

1.     Peace comes through strength. Solomon had a mighty army. It takes a fight to win and keep the peace. But our battle is not with people. We have the armor of God that we need to put on daily to win the peace over Satan and his demons (Eph.6:10-18). It takes strong warriors who fight to have peace.

2.     Peace enables us to build. Solomon built his house and the house of God (Temple). The first thing Solomon built was the house of God (Temple). It took a labor force of 183,600 working seven years to build it. That’s not counting the wall around Jerusalem, all the palaces (Solomon’s took 13 years to build), cities and ships. Plus all the furniture for all those structures. When he had furnished and finished the Temple, “a thick dark cloud filled the Temple,” which was the glory of God.” (1Ki.8:10-11) Three times each year Solomon offered a massive number of “peace offerings” at that Temple. Christians are called to build. We are God’s fellow-workers in the building of His Church, the house of God (1Cor.3:9-16). It takes a lot of spiritual strength and determination to build the house of God. What are you building? Character in your children? The church of the Lord Jesus Christ? What? We are builders and building takes a lot of strength.

3.     Peace brings unity and growth. First thing Solomon had to do when He became king was get rid of all those who wanted to divide the kingdom. Unity is only possible where there is peace, and peace only thrives in unity. 

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