Do you know that you have peace with God? If you’re a Christian, no matter the circumstances that are swirling around you—a struggling marriage, a sick child, financial problems, depression, infertility, life changes—you are at peace with God.
It’s not something you have to earn or do enough to reach. It is your state of being as his child. Romans 5:1 promises it as part of our inheritance in Christ:
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
Let that truth sink into you today.
You’re a Christian. You’ve been made right in God’s sight by putting your faith in what Christ did for you. THEREFORE, you have peace with God. No strings attached. No checklist to fill out. No performance bar to reach. It is your state of being.
Yes, we need to love God and love others. But those loving actions are grounded in knowing who we are in Christ. Even Christ’s loving actions were grounded in his relationship with God.
Consider this, John 13 tells the story of the Passover feast and some of the last words Jesus spoke before his crucifixion, but as the story begins, John writes:
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to go back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.” John 13:3-4, NLT
Did you see it? He knew who he was in relationship to the Father, where he had come from, and where he was going, then he began the journey to the cross.
Friend, you can have the same certainty. God does not ask you to earn peace with him through loving your family, friends, and community well. Instead, after he’s finished washing their feet, Jesus tells his disciples,
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35, NLT
Jesus first loves and then asks us to love, not to earn his peace but because we already have it.
As you go throughout your day, love others not from a place of obligation but from knowing you have peace with a loving God.
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Hi Friends, you may have noticed that we took a break during the month of July. We hadn’t “taken off” in several years, so we took a much needed vacation. We’re back now, but due to several projects in the works, you may expect 2-4 posts a month instead of the previous 4 posts. My project is a Bible study on Walking in Relationship with God. So many struggle with what freedom in Christ really means, and we’re going to unpack that in this study. Cindy is learning the ropes of a new job and praying about how to dive deeper into prayer. And Amber is working on several projects. One is her Equine Therapy business, Equuis. If you’re in the Austin/ Fort Hood, TX area and are considering seeing a counselor, you might want to talk to Amber about Equine Therapy.
School is starting soon for many of us. My prayers are with you as you gather supplies and find your new “normal” as the school year starts.
Grace and Peace,
Tara
God bless you Tara!! I’m grateful for your talents and efforts to share to share them ?