"There Is No Peace" In This World

Ever since I was a young child, I have heard the cry for world peace. Yet, as this world continues, we see less and less of peace on a broad scale. There is a reason why we do not have peace, and why there will never be peace in our world.
Agreeing to disagree is not peaceful at all, but kind of pointless. That is the problem many people have come across by such reasoning, that if you do not condemn my actions then I will not condemn your actions. With such a standard, or lack thereof, we find that there can be no standard of right or wrong by which to measure ourselves.
Peace can only occur when people have a common goal or interest. Every relationship exists because of an agreement between two parties to hold to a common standard. This standard may be as simple as a verbal agreement, or it may require legal documentation by which to hold each other accountable. The problem in our world today is that the other party needs to be held accountable to this standard agreed upon, but "do not hold me accountable". In politics, one party may consider an action a righteous thing to do, but when the other party does the exact same thing, they cry foul and condemn such actions. Do you see where this is heading? Of course, you are waiting for the word "hypocrisy".
When we bring the scale down to smaller groups and relationships, we have a better chance at having peace.
An example I experienced when I had open-heart surgery in the hospital really impressed me, and quite frankly, got me to thinking. As I talked with my many care-givers I realized that they came from different backgrounds and cultures. Some of which are in violent conflict today somewhere in the world. Yet despite their differences, they were focused upon a common goal. That goal was the health and care of their patients. You see that when people are working toward a common goal, they find a way to get along.
A family relationship can only have peace if everyone in that family works towards a common goal or standard. As a result, there is something worth holding onto and striving to keep in such a relationship. Yet when one chooses to seek a different path, there is going to be friction as would happen in any relationship. For any relationship to be at peace, there has to be an agreement, or a common understanding in place. A husband and wife make the agreement to be faithful to each other, yet when one strays from that agreement, there is friction and then bad things happen.
When citizens do not follow certain guidelines, there is going to be friction for someone. Those who want to break the law will find that there are consequences for their actions. The current effort to ignore law-breakers is going to encourage further law-breaking, and the end result will be tragic for so many people.
We will not have peace in our nation unless we can come together with a common goal. About the only thing that can do that is a national catastrophe. We certainly do not wish for it, but it may be necessary. We already have civil unrest running rampant and half the people in our country condemn it and half the people champion such.
The only solution to solve our problem is for the people to turn to God and abide by His rules. Sounds good, right? Even Jesus said that there would be few who will walk that straight and narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14).
Let us follow the commands of the Bible and strive to be peace-makers and not trouble-makers.
By Carey Scott

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