In my book, I dedicated a whole section to fruit. The book’s about planting seeds
of change into the soil of the world, so naturally there are lots of references to gardening and the yield of seed planting. (Random question, but have you ever wondered why the Bible speaks so much about fruit and not so much about vegetables? There are a few about veggies, and they are zingers, like this one in Proverbs… “Better is a dish of vegetables where love is, than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”) But I digress…

Anyway, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22–23)\

So a by-product of being connected to God is fruit, meaning the traits listed here. And today I want to focus on peace.

Before Solomon was born, his parents were given this information: “Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.” (1 Chronicles 22:9) Now wouldn’t that be exciting news for prospective parents? But how do WE receive and give peace?

Jesus came to the disciples after His resurrection and the first thing out of His mouth was, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:19). We receive peace from him. Then, like a handshake (or fist bump or high five or hug), we pass it on to others. In some churches, it’s called the Passing of the Peace. One person turns to another and says, “The peace of the Lord be with you” and the recipient answers,
“And also with you.”

Maybe we should take that more literally, especially during these days when peace is hard to find. We can fight our good fights AND have internal peace if we’re tending our orchards well.

Daily Seed: Find peace in your journey today . . . and pass it on to someone else.

“We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” (William Gladstone 1809-1898, four-time British prime minister)