“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15, NKJV).
This verse contains an incredible command. God calls the body of Christ to let his peace govern our hearts, minds and bodies. The peace of God is to be the arbitrator and governor of our lives. If there was ever a time this call needed to be sounded, it is today in this hour of turmoil and confusion.
Why did the Lord command the early church to let his peace rule in their lives? Because he knew what was coming, and he wanted to prepare them. In just a few years, incredible turmoil would come upon them. They would be tortured and persecuted; they would face hard times, loss of homes, confiscation of their possessions, even attacks from vicious men who thought they were doing God a favor by killing them. God was warning them, “You must be grounded in my peace because it alone will see you through the incredible changes ahead.”
“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).
Today, there is a false peace sweeping through many churches; it is the peace of sin-blinded Christians. Moses called such believers “self-blessed,” meaning self-deceived. He warned Israel that a curse would come upon all wicked, disobedient children of God. He essentially said they would plaster over their sinful ways with a false sense of peace. “When he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I walk in the imagination of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober” (Deuteronomy 29:19).
Moses was describing the child of God who finds a cozy doctrine that tells him he is all right, still saved and heaven-bound while continuing in his sin. He says to himself, “I will do as I please and still not lose the peace in my heart.”
No matter what happens to the nations of the world, no power in hell can rob you of the peace of God which Jesus Christ implants in your soul. God will have his people governed by peace. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).