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Thanksgiving and Peace

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
– Colossians 3:15 NKJV –

When our faith is rooted in Christ and His grace is conforming us to His image, thanksgiving overflows in our hearts. Deep gratitude is a natural outworking of our salvation. We deserve wrath. God gives us mercy and forgiveness instead.

Nothing is more dreadful to our souls than war with God, and nothing is more delightful than peace with God, and so awareness of peace with God should produce lots of thanksgiving. God called us to peace and to be thankful in the peace we enjoy.

If the peace of Christ rules our hearts and overflows into our relationships, then we will be full of thanksgiving toward God and one another.

Paul connects these ideas in Colossians 3:15 (NKJV) when he says, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” We have peace with God and one another, and for this we should be thankful.

In other words, thankfulness fulfills a purpose for our unity, and then it strengthens our unity. God unites us in Christ to produce a family of thankful people, and a family of thankful people are, by definition, stronger in their unity. They will not be easily torn apart.

Thanksgiving shows that we are getting the point of our salvation and grasping the beauty of our unity in Christ. Peace with one another produces thanksgiving, and thanksgiving produces more peace with one another.

Excerpt from Christian Unity and You, pg. 176