As I was praying today I was reminded of something I heard Dallas Willard say a while back: “none of the fruit of the Spirit are a feeling, they are a condition.”
Over the past few years the consistent and pervasive lack of peace in the world around us has been on full display. Peace, as Dallas points out, is not a feeling. It is a condition of the soul. We can be at peace even if our world is in chaos. Conversely, we have all felt the internal lack of peace even when we find ourselves in the most serene of circumstances. When we lack peace, our hearts and minds struggle to do anything besides worry. Perhaps this is why the Bible is filled with verses and exhortations to not be afraid…be at peace. As we’ve worked in a variety of ministry contexts over the years, the lack of inner peace is and continues to be the starting point for so many of our discipling relationships.
If we as servants of God don’t help lead people first towards peace, the struggle to see real transformation beyond head knowledge will continue. Peace is resting in goodness. Spiritual peace is actual soul rest. Our hearts, minds and souls long for peace, we’re created to live at peace. And when we are at peace the fruit flows forth. From peace, joy undoubtedly follows, which fills us with hope, rooted and reinforced in faith and made perfect in love.
We must be men and women who ourselves work to (re)connect our hearts with our minds and lead others to do the same. For centuries, the monastics have written that when our minds enter our hearts and really, tangibly experience the centerpiece of our being which is love, it becomes quite easy for the two to stay connected. The integration of heart and mind allows us to live from a place of peace. When our minds dwell in our hearts we find our true home – deeply rooted and in union with the Triune God who is love. This is our starting point.