Am I Giving Peace?

John

14:27-31a

Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."

The line that grabs me here is, "Not as the world gives do I give it to you." It strikes me because I realize that usually when we give each other things it is with wanting something of greater value in return. It reminds me of the days of trading shows with other bands. It was a great way to break into new areas and to try and make new fans but there as always an underlying current of, "Let's go in there and cream the other band." Yeah, I know not very Christian. Jesus gives us his peace and expects nothing greater in return. Even if we tried we couldn't give him anything greater. He is God, it's impossible for us to give him anything that he doesn't already have. It took a long time for me to get this but, all Jesus wants from me is me. He wants my love because he loves me and wants communion with me. It makes me realize that as I go out into the world I shouldn't just be looking to get "stuff" from other people. I should just love. I should just be happy with communing with others and doing as they need. No doubt I have a long way to go.

Jesus,

You give me so much. I don't deserve it. Help me to be the man that you know that I can be. Help me to give peace to others. Help me to see the opportunities to share your love and word. Help me to continually grow. I don't want to be a rift in this world. I want to be the avenue in which your love his helped shared in this world. I love you Jesus.

In Jesus Christ's name I pray,

Amen