“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; And the government will be upon his shoulders; and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6

If you have ever listened to Handel’s Messiah, this verse is familiar to you. I can hardly read it without hearing the chorus in my mind. It is a powerful statement of who this child, this Jesus, is; and how he will be perceived. Jesus was not, and is not always recognized as “owning” these names. When we accept Jesus we accept that He is indeed all of these things and more. But what does Prince of Peace mean? Does it have to do with wars and conflicts? We pray for peace in our world and especially recently for peace in our country. Or, does it really mean peace within ourselves? By trusting in God we can have peace in our hearts and minds and then we can follow the Prince of Peace to spread peace in the world.

Years ago we had bracelets from our Youth Group that said WWJD, or What would Jesus Do? It’s not as catchy but how about WWPPD, What would the Prince of Peace do? That would surely help us in all of our interactions and would help to bring about the peace we are praying for. Let the Prince of Peace bring peace to your own heart so that you can spread that peace throughout the world in every interaction you have. If we all would think of how the Prince of Peace would deal with those we disagree with, with those who are different from us, with those who treat us badly, we could change our behavior and find peace. Jesus gave us the way to spread peace… love your neighbors as yourselves… so simple, but so hard. Jesus came to show us the way to achieve peace. He is the Prince of Peace; we just need to follow his example. 

Prince of Peace help me to be a peacemaker, to do what you would have me do in all of my interactions. Amen.

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