The third fruit of the Holy Ghost is Peace - Now the perfection of joy is peace and this occurs in two ways.
Peace is the result of resting in a relationship with God. Peace is a tranquility, a state of rest, that comes from seeking after God, or, the opposite of chaos. Peace or eirḗnē is God's gift of wholeness and derived from eirō, "to join, tie together into a whole", properly, when all essential parts are joined together as one or as a whole.
The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting...Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.
So, after charity and joy, "peace" is given the third place.
The forth fruit is Patience - In evil things the mind has a good disposition, in respect of two things.
- First, by freedom from outward disturbance; for it is impossible to rejoice perfectly in the beloved good, if one is disturbed in the enjoyment of it; and again, if a man's heart is perfectly set at peace in one object, he cannot be distracted by any other object, since he accounts all other objects as nothing; as it says in (Psalm 118:165): "Much peace have they that love Thy Law, and to them there is no stumbling-block," because, these external things do not disturb us in our enjoyment of God.
- Secondly, because it calms our restless desire: for we do not rejoice perfectly, if we are not satisfied with the object of our joy.
Peace is the result of resting in a relationship with God. Peace is a tranquility, a state of rest, that comes from seeking after God, or, the opposite of chaos. Peace or eirḗnē is God's gift of wholeness and derived from eirō, "to join, tie together into a whole", properly, when all essential parts are joined together as one or as a whole.
The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting...Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.
So, after charity and joy, "peace" is given the third place.
The forth fruit is Patience - In evil things the mind has a good disposition, in respect of two things.
- First, by not being disturbed whenever evil threatens: which pertains to "patience";
- Secondly, by not being disturbed, whenever good things are delayed; which belongs to "long suffering," since "to lack good is a kind of evil" (Ethic. v, 3).
The word patience denotes lenience, forbearance, fortitude, patient endurance, long suffering. Also included in patience is the ability to endure persecution and ill-treatment. It describes a person who has the power to exercise revenge but instead exercises restraint.
