Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” So, what kind of peace is Jesus offering to His disciples? When we speak about peace and when we pray for it, we want an end to all the conflicts around the world -- and this is very important -- to pray for justice, for an end of anger and hatred. But there were never times in our human history when people everywhere lived peacefully, and most likely it will never happen. That’s why Jesus said that He offers us a different kind of peace- “Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” Jesus offers us an internal peace, which is a deep belief that no matter what happens to us in this world, we will be rewarded in eternal peace. I spoke with young parents whose child tragically died. They were grieving, crying, they were very sad. But they told me: we will miss our child, but we believe that she is at peace now, she is with God. And this is exactly that kind of peace that Jesus offers us. No, there will not be a lasting peace in this world, but you will experience a greater peace when you believe in the promises of our Lord.
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