Being people of peace – Christian Today

I ponder what you might be hoping for this Christmas? Time with family? Maybe some nice presents? Maybe, like me, you might be also hoping for some peace. Peace in every sense. We long for it in our wartorn world. But we also yearn for it inside our families, on our streets, in our politics, in our own hearts … 

2025 has been – as every yr is – turbulent.

In January, we began with the awkward Oval Office meeting when President Trump appeared to deliberately shame the leader of Ukraine’s President Zelensky. Then within the spring, the House of Commons overwhelmingly approved laws to decriminalise abortion to full term and reasonably narrowly voted to legalise assisted dying. 

A hot summer threatened to spin Keir Starmer’s leadership uncontrolled as a backbench revolt against profit reforms gained momentum. The Prime Minister seems to have been teetering ever since, with rumors of a contest for No 10 looming in the brand new yr following a controversial autumn budget and one other backbench revolt – this time –  on asylum reform. All the while, the far right has grow to be more assertive. 

It could be fair to say that the pace and complexity of life works against us finding any peace. So does the shortcoming to flee a relentless diatribe of reports and faux news on those little screens that we spend far an excessive amount of time scrolling through. 

We attempt to get away from the effort, but all too often the effort finally ends up coming with us. We seek peace, but we rarely find it. Maybe that’s how we discover you this Christmas: worn out by the world’s muckiness and anxious about what’s to come back … 

The excellent news is scripture tells lots about peace – including that its meaning is a lot deeper than the absence of conflict. 

Did , should you are trusting in Jesus, then you’ve God’s peace? How awesome is that! Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica was written to remind this recent church of something absolutely critical: our God is a God of peace. And his peace is Trinitarian – God the Father so longed so that you can know his peace that he sent his son Jesus into the mess and stress of life to determine peace on earth. He also sent his Spirit to remodel us into people of peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I provide you with” (John 14 verse 27). 

Remember, within the Old Testament, to be within the presence of God without making the suitable sacrifices, holding the correct office, or guarding your steps with intense humility, would mean being consumed in holy fire. And yet, should you are a Christian, you aren’t just in God’s presence, God the Holy Spirit literally lives in you – now that may be utterly not possible if it wasn’t for the undeniable fact that Jesus’ death on your sins has been once and for all deemed to be a totally acceptable sacrifice. So you’ve peace with God, should you are trusting in Jesus. The matter is settled. Peace is established endlessly. 

It’s a peace that we are able to have regardless of what state our lives are in. When Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, encouraging them to “Be joyful all the time, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5 v16), he wasn’t sitting back along with his feet up! Paul knew the pressure of persecution. Indeed, he had been driven away from the church in Thessalonica after only a number of months of being with them. Paul’s life was not a straightforward one: imprisonment, beatings, riots, stoning, sleepless nights – even shipwreck! And yet, he knew God’s peace – Shalom – which accurately means a wholeness, a putting back together of broken pieces. 

Shalom – peace – doesn’t stop with us … we’re called to be peacemakers! There are currently 11 UN peacekeeping operations deployed internationally protecting civilians, providing humanitarian aid, and supporting political processes. This is deeply courageous work which we must remember to hope for, but you don’t must go to faraway places to be an individual of peace. You is usually a person of peace wherever God has placed you – in your school, hospital ward, coffee shop. So the following time there’s a row – it’s your job to maintain the peace! 

And Jesus is described because the Prince of Peace. This signifies that he likes to put the shattered pieces of our lives back together into a complete. 

Peace isn’t achieved – it’s received. As we re-centre our scattered senses on the Christ child – the one who got here to win us, to shed his blood for us – I pray that this truth will grip our hearts and encourage us to live out our calling as people of peace in an anxious unsettled world.

Tim Farron has been the Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005 and served because the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party from 2015 to 2017. Tim can also be the host of Premier’s ‘A Mucky Business’ podcast, which unpacks the murky world of politics and encourages believers across the UK to have interaction prayerfully. He is the writer of A Mucky Business: Why Christians should become involved in politics.”