Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man. ~Oswald Chambers
During Sunday School this morning, questions suggesting a relationship between holiness and peace were presented: Can one have peace without holiness? Can one have holiness without peace?These were not easy questions to answer. Someone brought up that neighbors can live next to each other peacefully without having holiness, which spurred a lively conversation, ironically suggesting that we also could have holiness and not peace. All this was going as I tried to explore my own feelings on the lacking peace.
I really had not considered this relationship before, so I wanted to give it a bit of thought. It just seem to be the "right answer" that the closer to my Lord I am, the more holy I would be and the more peace I should have, but that seemed to be leaving something out. I have noticed a tendency of apathy in some people, who practically worship peace or peaceful co-existence.
My thoughts then turned toward Jesus, who was definitely not apathetic!
Was Jesus peaceful? Certainly, He portrays to most people a peaceful, even passive, nature. However, He was hardly peaceful when he went after the money changers in the temple. In fact, one could say He disturbed the peace, yet He was always holy.
My thoughts are that one can have holiness and spiritual peace with the Lord, but without holiness there cannot be spiritual peace. However, in having holiness, one cannot really have peace with the world. There will be conflict. There will be unrest. As long as there is sin, there will be strife between that which is holy and that which is not.
My Lord, thank you for giving me a place of peace and rest with You. Thank you, also, for my unrest with that which does not glorify You.
