PEACE by Julia E. Duffie

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 24, 1876

PEACE

By Julia E. Duffie

“Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Ps. 119:165.

Christ tells us the two great principles of the law are love to God and love to man—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself. Now when anything happens to disturb our peace of mind, would it not be well to look to our own hearts, and see if the great cause of disturbance does not lie there? Do we love those who have offended us as we love ourselves? If not, we are not fulfilling the law, and are not in a position to look upon their words or deeds in the beautiful light of the Golden Rule. If we truly felt a desire for their happiness equal to that we feel for our own, would there be room in our hearts for a spirit of retaliation, or a disposition to give way to an offended, injured feeling?”

God does not wish us to sit quietly down, doing nothing, and in this position expect to be perfectly serene and happy; but he has work for every one of us. Christ was not content to enjoy the glories and beauties of Heaven while there was a poor, perishing race to save; and he requires us to feel deeply for others and be ready to do anything in our power for their benefit. But we should be cheerful and happy while doing every duty.

We often suffer our minds to become gloomy by indulging unprofitable thoughts. Oh! if we could only remember to think on the things of which Paul tells us—the true things, the pure, honest, lovely things, those of good report, where there is any virtue or any praise—would we not be in a much better frame of mind to love God and to do good to our fellow-beings? “A bitter fountain cannot send forth sweet waters.” The more we notice the faults and failings of others, and think about them, the worse they appear to us; and by so doing we are not training our hearts to love them, but are coming to dislike them and to feel no desire for their happiness. While we thus magnify the faults of others, we are neglecting our own, and suffering them to take deep root.

We can train our minds to seek for beautiful ideas, to think of the good traits of those around us, the many blessings by which we are surrounded, lovely objects in nature, and many other good themes, and thus learn to feel more love to God and our fellows; or we can allow our minds to take a low level, to notice only the bad things, to have a quick eye for the shortcomings of others. We may be discontented with our lot, and murmur and complain at every trivial thing that annoys us, and in this way we shall constantly encourage the growth of an unthankful, unloving disposition. And if we take this course we may be certain that our peace of mind will be very small, our trials and perplexities very great, and that we shall find plenty of things at which to take offense.

Perhaps something arises in our work to baffle or perplex us, and we allow ourselves to become worried or peevish about it. But let us remember that the true results of our labors will be in proportion to the effort we put forth, the motive which actuates us, and the spirit and manner in which our work is done. If the work seems difficult, and we are calm and patient, doing all we can, even if it is but little, will it not be more acceptable than a great amount accomplished with no especial effort? Perhaps our patience and humility are just the qualities that need discipline.

The poor widow gave all she had, so it was considered much although really but a trifle; while the gifts of the rich, who could easily spare large amounts, were accounted less. The widow’s offering was prompted by love, and when we truly love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves, we shall patiently do all we can for the honor of his holy name and the well-being of our fellows. We may then humbly leave the results of our endeavors with the One who “doeth all things well.”

Having done this, we may claim our dear Saviour’s promise: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” Then nothing shall offend us, while we truly love God, and sincerely seek to obey his holy, unchangeable law of love.

JULIA E. DUFFIE.