TEXT: Galatians 5:22-23

SUBJECT: Kids’ Sermon #31: Peace

Kids,

Listen carefully today. I prepared this sermon especially for you. And I prayed the Lord would make it a blessing to every one of you. Also, I’m going to ask questions, which—if you listen and think hard—you’ll be able to answer them.

My topic is "Fruit of the Spirit". So far, we’ve looked at two of those fruits. They are…what?

Remember, "the Fruit of the Spirit" is not what you do to be saved. No one is saved by loving or being joyful or patient and so on. No, you’re saved only by repenting of your sins and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When you repent and believe, the Holy Spirit comes into your soul. And He produces good fruit in your life. I don’t mean necatrines grow out of your ears or tomatoes sprout in your hair! I mean He produces His fruit in your life, things like "love, joy, peace, longsuffering" and the others.

Now, we come to Fruit Number Three. Which is…what?

Peace. "The fruit of the Spirit is…peace".

You all know what "peace" is. It’s the opposite of fighting. Some kids are not peaceful. They’re always aggravated or bickering or punching someone or wrecking things. About them, the Bible says,

They may be the smartest kids in class. They may know their math and science and grammar and history. But, when it comes to peace, they’re the dumbest kids in school.

The peaceful kid seems happy and content. He doesn’t walk around with a sour look on his face; he’s not always arguing; he stays out of fights whenever he can. He’s at peace with himself and with other people too.

And so, peace is the opposite of fighting and all the attitudes and desires that cause it.

As far as I can tell, the Bible describes three kinds of "peace".

The first is "peace with God". We have peace with God only through the death of Jesus Christ in our place. This is the most important peace you can have, but it’s not really the "peace" spoken of here.

A second is "peace with other people". To have it, God tells us to,

In other words, Put others first. That’s the only way you can have peace in your home, at school, with people at church, and so on.

If you think that’s hard, listen to this one!

The Lord Jesus said this. And he means it!

This sort of "peace" is also important. But it’s not the one spoken of here either.

The kind of "peace" we’re talking about today is "peace of mind". It’s the opposite of guilt, worry, envy, and discontent.

1. Guilt is the feeling that you’re in trouble with God. You’ve sinned, He knows it, and He’ll punish you for it.
2. Worry is fear of the future. Maybe your parents are late one night and you think they’ve been killed in a car wreck. What will you do? Who’ll take care of you? Where will you live? That is worry.
3. Envy is that hateful feeling you have when somebody gets something and you don’t.
4. Discontent is being unhappy with what you have and wanting to have something better or something more.

Most people are full of guilt and worry, envy and discontent. Whatever they have in life—whether it’s a lot of money or a nice family or a clean house—they don’t have "peace of mind". It’s the opposite of these ugly attitudes.

Everyone is bothered by these things from time to time. No one is perfect. But I want you to think about it. Don’t answer me, answer yourself: Do you have "peace of mind"? Can you be happy when your brother gets something you don’t? Are you thankful for what you have? Can you live without worrying all the time? Do you have a good conscience?

If the answer is "yes", then you have "peace of mind". But if it’s "no", then you don’t have "peace of mind".

Does God want you to have "peace of mind"? Yes He does. In fact, He commands you to have it! Many verses say so, such as

1. Philippians 4:8
2. Hebrews 13:5

The words, "peace of mind" aren’t in these verses, of course, but if you obeyed them, that’s exactly what you’d have: peace of mind.

Does the Lord want you to have "peace of mind"?

The Lord wants you to have "peace". But not only does He want it—(and command it), He also gives it to you.

How does He do that? Through the Lord Jesus Christ! Ephesians 2:14 says,

Because of our sins, we have a problem with God. And He has a problem with us. Only Jesus Christ can fix both problems. On the cross, He gave Himself to God as a sin offering. God accepted that offering in our place. Which means He is no longer angry with us and He forgives our sins.

This makes for a wonderful change in us. Because our sins are forgiven and we know we’re right with God, we can now serve Him from the heart and do those things which are pleasing in His sight.

Jesus Christ makes peace between us and God. Which allows us to have peace of mind. If I have peace with God—a peace nobody can take away from me—how can I…

…Worry? Psalm 118:6

…Feel guilty? Romans 8:34

…Be mad about how little I have or be jealous if you have more than I do? Romans 8:32

You only get "peace of mind" when you have peace with God. And you get that in Christ alone. Through faith alone. Romans 15:13 says we have,

That sounds pretty good, but is it possible? Can you really have peace in this life? Even if bad things happen to you? Even if your parents are mean to you? Or if your brothers and sisters beat you up or exclude you? Or if you don’t have all the things your friends have?

Yes it is. We know that because Someone had all these problems—and more. He was very poor; His parents were mean to Him; His brothers hated Him; His friends weren’t loyal to Him; He was laughed at, ridiculed, and finally crucified.

Do you know who I’m talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ! He had more problems than you do—more than anyone. Yet He had peace of mind. God

Your peace won’t be perfect. But you can still have it. Even if things go wrong for you at home or school or at church or in the neighborhood. You can have peace.

But only if you believe in Christ.

There is no peace without faith in Christ. The Bible says so,

But everyone who trusts the Lord can have it. Paul had a lot of problems, but He had peace. Because he had the Lord Jesus Christ!

Everyone in the world wants peace. But most of them want peace their way! They’re like people who want beautiful white teeth and no cavities by eating ten pounds of candy a day! You can’t have good teeth that way!

You can’t have peace your own way either. You can only have it God’s Way. He offers it to you in the Gospel. Believe in Christ and find peace. Both now and forever.

I hope you do. I’ll pray for you. The peace of God be with you all. For Christ’s sake. Amen.