First Steps for Inner Peace

“that you may become Children of Light”

When Jesus Christ sent seventy missionary disciples throughout the Holy Land two thousand years ago, He sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God with the power to heal and to impart His peace. This peace does not imply only the absence of anxiety or inner division; rather, it implies the presence of the Spirit of God, which brings not only peace, but also charity, joy, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. But, receiving, growing in and being filled with this peace isn't automatic. It involves a process of inner transformation that has certain steps for the renewal of both mind and heart so that we may become children of light not only to receive, but also to impart His peace.

These first steps show us how to be able to begin to receive and to grow in the peace of God. It establishes our friendship and partnership with God. When we begin to look into our hearts to see where we are in this process of transformation, we should always focus on taking our next step and not on how far we might still have to go. In fact, even after we have made it to the final steps, it is God who will lead us further up and further in.

1.     Listen to your conscience and seek to live a noble life. The first step in receiving the Spirit of God and His peace is to listen to the voice of God in our hearts telling us to do good and to avoid evil. Every person has the capacity to hear this voice. Those who don't listen to their conscience and live only thinking about what pleases them without any reference to doing what is right and just, don't have the capacity to receive this peace. When we realize that we have the choice to live a noble life and we begin to repent of the goodness that we lack, then the process of preparing to receive God's peace begins.

The understanding that we are all called to greater things—to something more noble—can occur gradually and often begins with an encounter with God's love as well as His beauty, truth and goodness. This can happen through other people or writings—especially the New Testament—that demonstrate what it means to live a good life. Even if we don't recognize that this love comes from God, we can already see that the horizons of what it means to live a rich and meaningful life are much greater than what we had previously thought.

2.     Believe in the Light and renounce darkness and sin. God is Light and Jesus Christ is the Morning Star that brings light to our hearts. When we begin to walk in the light of the Spirit of God, we begin to see the materialistic culture that surrounds us: the culture of abortion, abuse, adultery, fornication, theft, deceit, and lies. We begin to recognize that we cannot have one foot in each world. A choice must be made. If we want to live a good life and experience the peace that surpasses all understanding, we must renounce the darkness and choose the light. In humbly and sincerely repenting of our sins, we are able to receive peace from the Prince of Peace.

3.     Pray daily to God in your heart. The only way to grow in our inner peace is to grow in intimacy with God by setting aside time each day to enter into heart-to-heart conversation with Him. Nothing can substitute for a daily encounter in which we listen to God, give praise and thanks to Him as well as ask for forgiveness and what we need. This process of inner transformation is about entering into an intimate partnership of life, light and love with the Spirit of God. This conversation should be sincere, including even expressing negative emotions. God delights in our openness and transparency.

4.     Be merciful and forgive everyone, including yourself. Reflecting God’s merciful love in works of mercy is at the heart of loving God. The love that God wants to pour out into us is also for those around us. Jesus Christ assured us that only the merciful can receive God's mercy. This begins with forgiving all those who have hurt or offended us. We cannot hold resentment towards anyone—including God. We must also pray for our enemies and persecutors, and for those who have earthly authority.

5.     Bring light and help to dark places. Be the light. Those who have begun surrendering themselves to God and becoming missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, are able to carry His presence in a way that bears spiritual fruit for others. We must shine wherever He has placed us with the ardent love that only comes from God. The world doesn't really have a problem of darkness; it has a problem of a lack of light. We must be thermostats and not thermometers. A thermometer reflects the temperature of the environment, while a thermostat sets it. When we become children of light, we will proclaim the Kingdom of God and have the power to heal and to impart His peace to the world.

The final steps show us how we can be filled with the peace of God as our friendship and partnership with Him is made perfect. It is not enough to be close to God, we need to learn how to lean on Him and not on our own understanding. It also means that God will increasingly call us out of our comfort zone. If we haven’t felt challenged in this way, we are likely not listening. As we grow in intimacy and obedience to God, He will call us to a ministry of friendship where we see others in accordance with their destiny in Him.

Completing the final steps in being filled with His peace will allow the Spirit of God to direct us more intimately with his light and love and to transform us into the men and women that we were created to be. In this process of transformation, a spiritual mentor is often of crucial importance. MorningStar.Charity is committed to providing this mentoring to those whom God has called to be His chosen Children of Light in the world.

The peace of the Lord be with you! Shalom, shalom!! 

Papa Fred, President of MorningStar.Charity

November 6, 2025