Fruits of the Spirit, Part Three: Unwavering Inner Peace

“But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites. If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26, AMP)

First, love: a love that can only be shared once it is experienced in its deepest form, by realizing the love God gave to us and allowing it to transform us from the inside out.

Second, joy: a joy that wells up and overflows from the innermost parts of us and is not dependent on external happiness to be sparked or sustained, having the ability to remain joyful for others regardless of our personal .

Today, peace. More specifically, inner peace– as the Amplified Bible so specifically points out. Are you noticing a trend? Because I am!

What we should be noticing is that all these Fruits of the Spirit are an inner thing. They’re not something that comes to us from outside influence. Instead, they are character traits modeled by God that both spring from and affect us in our inner selves. Heart, mind, spirit and soul, each fruit does something within us that is two-fold. First, it changes us when we truly encounter God’s Spirit and get to experience those Fruits. Second, they become so ingrained in our own character, that they extend outwards to others as God’s own hands and feet. And they should. It’s a given that being closer to God and spending more time with Him will inevitably begin to change us, challenge us, and transform our inner self. 

Why?

Paul actually writes about it earlier on in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (AMP) In other words, when we are regenerated in that moment of salvation, we are committing to the very arduous process of dying to our selves. And that’s a very biblical way of saying that in the moment of salvation, we sacrifice our flesh and everything our flesh takes pleasure in, choosing to give it up in order to follow Christ. 

And that’s why it’s called “dying to self,” because laying all those earthly pleasures down– some of the same things that Paul lists as practices of sinful nature in Galatians 5:19-21– is not only uncomfortable but directly opposed to self-preservation in the eyes of the world. It is a hard thing to do, and something we have to choose over and over again. But we do it so that Christ can live in our hearts, living so close to us that He is literally within us, drawing us into life changes that continue to mark us as God’s children. 

His love, joy, and peace in me, is the evidence that I am being made even more into His image, not just physically imago Dei, but spiritually as well.

So when we think of peace as a Fruit of the Spirit, we have to remember that it’s specifically inner peace. We’re not talking about a peace that calms the storm like Jesus did in the Gospel. We’re talking about an inner peace that chooses to remain in Christ despite the wind, waves, and trauma of the storm. Because yes, Jesus has the power to stand in front of your personal storms and say, “Peace, be still,” but not every storm is meant to be weathered this way.

Some storms are meant to be weathered the way Mary weathered hers. Pregnant with the Son of God as a virgin, in a time and culture that could mistreat her, outcaste her, or even kill her, Mary never broke a sweat. In spite of the prospect of losing her fiancé, Joseph, and quietly breaking off a marriage that would be a refuge to a woman in her situation, Mary never begs Joseph to change his mind. Instead, Mary let’s God do what God promised He would. I’m sure, for many people, it would be hard to ignore the impossibility of that storm or to disregard their own inability to change it. But Mary treaded water and waited for God to arrange the pieces. 

In the end? God straightened everything out. Mary had the protection of not only the God of the Universe, but of an earthly husband to be that shelter for her and Jesus. Even so, how amazing is it that Mary kept her peace as she waited for God to come through? That can only be explained by Mary’s clear proximity to God and knowing His character. Through laying down her own comfortability to be a part of God’s plan, God kept her safe. She knew that God was still God, no matter what her storm looked like. 

And that’s something we need to ask God to establish in ourselves: When our very real circumstances close in like a storm, we can stay rooted in the fact that we serve a God that sees our storms in a way that no one else can, and the fact that He lives in our hearts is reason enough to believe that we will make it through. No matter how high waves of depression or fear rise around us, no matter how the whipping winds of worry toss us around, and no matter how dark the rolling clouds of oppression and uncertainty get, God is still God. He is the same God that can calm the storm, and if it’s not His will to calm it, then you can still call on the inner peace of knowing God and knowing He is in control. The storm will do what it does, but you are safe in the Father’s hands.

Just like our key verse says, if we claim to live by the Spirit, then we have to walk in the Spirit. We can’t be Christians that say God is in control, all the while wringing our hands behind our backs and trying to steer ourselves out of the storm. We have to walk in the Spirit, knowing that we serve a God who can quiet the storm and trusting that even if He doesn’t, we can have peace in the fact that our hearts don’t have to mirror the tempest. We can rest in our God who is named the Prince of Peace and Jehovah Shalom– the same God who has made our hearts His home.