“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
-Romans 12:18 (KJV)
This verse does not pretend peace is easy. It acknowledges effort, restraint, sacrifice, and wisdom. Peace is presented not as a default condition, but as a deliberate pursuit, something that must be built, protected, and maintained.
A Story: The Wall That Took Years
There was once a village divided by a long-standing feud. Two families, once united, became bitter enemies after a single careless accusation. Words escalated into silence. Silence hardened into hatred. Over time, a wall was built, first in the heart, then physically between their lands.
Years later, a drought struck the village. Water was scarce. One family discovered an underground stream that crossed into the other’s land. The elder of the first family faced a choice: protect the secret or risk reconciliation.
Approaching the wall, trembling, he spoke. The conversation was awkward, painful, slow. Apologies were hesitant. Tears followed. Trust was not restored in a day, but a bridge replaced the wall.
That bridge took years of humility, restraint, listening, forgiveness, and patience to build.
Months later, during a disagreement, one angry youth struck the bridge with fire. In one night, what took years to build was reduced to ashes.
Peace is like that bridge.
Why Peace Costs So Much
Peace is expensive because it requires virtue.
Peace is not merely the absence of conflict; it is the presence of order, justice, and mutual respect. It demands choosing the harder right over the easier wrong, again and again.
It requires:
Self-control over impulse
Wisdom over reaction
Long-term vision over short-term victory
Conflict gratifies the ego quickly. Peace humbles it slowly.
That is why peace costs time, thought, and discipline, while destruction needs only a moment of passion.
Why Peace Is So Fragile
The human mind reacts faster than it reflects.
Anger ignites quicker than empathy. Suspicion spreads faster than trust. A single insult can undo years of loyalty because emotional wounds bypass reason.
Peace requires:
Regulated emotions
Careful communication
Awareness of past wounds
The courage to pause before responding
Destruction requires none of these. A harsh word, a raised voice, a false assumption, and peace collapses.
An untrained mind builds peace slowly, but destroys it automatically.
The Cost of Inner Peace
Before peace exists in society, it must exist within the individual.
Inner peace is expensive because it requires:
Facing unresolved pain
Letting go of bitterness
Forgiving without guarantees
Releasing the need to always be right
Many prefer inner chaos because it feels familiar. Healing threatens old identities. Peace demands maturity.
One unsettled heart can sabotage an entire family, workplace, church, or nation.
Inner peace is not accidental, it is disciplined living.
The Price of Peace Before God
Peace is a fruit, not a shortcut.
“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
-James 3:18 (KJV)
Peace flows from righteousness, alignment with God’s ways. It requires:
Obedience
Humility
Submission to divine wisdom
The surrender of pride
Peace often demands silence when revenge feels justified, prayer when retaliation feels natural, and trust when fear is loud.
The soul pays with surrender.
Peace in Relationships: Built Brick by Brick
Every healthy relationship is a construction site.
Peace in relationships is built through:
Honest conversations
Clear expectations
Mutual respect
Repeated forgiveness
Patience with growth
One betrayal, one lie, one careless word can shatter intimacy. That is why wise people guard relationships like fragile glass.
It takes years to know someone deeply, but seconds to lose trust.
Peace in relationships is an investment with no instant returns.
Peace in Leadership and Society
Nations collapse not because peace was impossible, but because it was undervalued.
Peace in leadership requires:
Listening to dissent
Choosing justice over popularity
Delaying gratification
Governing with restraint
War, division, and chaos often begin with leaders who find peace too slow and conflict more convenient.
History confirms this: revolutions ignite faster than restorations.
Peace is patient governance. Destruction is dramatic display.
Why Destruction Feels Cheap
Destruction feels cheap because it offers immediate emotional release.
Anger feels powerful. Revenge feels satisfying. Division feels validating.
But these are false economies, cheap pleasures with expensive consequences.
Peace delays gratification but multiplies dividends. Destruction accelerates pleasure but mortgages the future.
What feels cheap today becomes costly tomorrow.
Becoming a Builder of Peace
To build peace is to accept a sacred calling.
Peacebuilders are often misunderstood:
They are called weak for refusing violence
Slow for choosing dialogue
Naïve for believing in restoration
Yet they are the architects of futures others will live in.
To build peace is to think beyond self, moment, and emotion.
It is to believe that restraint is stronger than rage.
The Final Wisdom
Peace will always be expensive because it reflects the nature of God, patient, deliberate, redemptive.
Destruction will always be cheap because it mirrors human impatience.
The wise do not ask, “How fast can I win?”
They ask, “What will still stand after I am gone?”
Closing
“When the house is built with patience, it will shelter generations;
but when it is burned in anger, even the ashes will not remember you.”
African Proverb
