Charismatic Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer says peace is very important in one's life since without it, life is not worth living.
"I know what it's like to live with no peace at all. I grew up in a house that was full of turmoil, and I learned to respond to my frustrations with anger and bitterness and a lot of yelling and screaming," she writes for The Christian Post. "It was just the normal atmosphere that I lived in. But thankfully, God gave me a husband who is extremely peaceful, and that helped me realise what peace is and how I can have it."
Meyer says today's world is full of anger, stress and strife. A lot of people say they want peace, and yet pay no heed to God's instructions on how to obtain itt, she says.
Personally, she says she only found peace when she focused on God and let His love grow inside her.
"Peace is not something that comes naturally to people. Sometimes it is downright difficult to stay peaceful, but God is always here to help us," she says. "As we work with the Holy Spirit to develop the fruit of peace in our life, He teaches us how to deal with our frustrations in a completely different way. One thing I learned is that it wasn't my circumstances that made me upset, it was how I responded to them."
When Meyer started paying attention to how she responded to people and situations, she made an effort to change her behaviour. Since she started addressing the root cause of her problem, she began to make progress.
"God showed me that I had to start taking responsibility for my own happiness, instead of doing what I had always done before, which was blaming everyone but myself and saying things like: 'Well, if you would do this, then I wouldn't get upset' or 'If you'd help me more around the house, then I wouldn't have to be late all the time,'" she says.
Meyer hopes Christians realise that if what they're about to do is not peaceful, then it is not God's will. "More than anything, we need to follow peace," she says. "It takes a lot of growing and maturing to let the Holy Spirit have His way in your heart. But if it's your heart's desire to be more like Christ, He will help you accomplish your goal."
