Our Personal Prince of Peace

As I reflect on a talk given at a recent Genesis Group devotional, I'm struck by its profound message about one of Christs’ titles, the Prince of Peace. This title is not just powerful and promising, but deeply personal. Jesus is not only the Prince of Peace in a global or eternal sense; He is our Personal Prince of Peace. From His very first moments, He was transforming chaos into calm.

The Genesis Group speaker imagined Mary, a young mother surrounded by the unfamiliar and the uncertain. Amid disrupted plans and urgent needs, there must have been a measure of confusion and fear. The stable wasn't a clean, serene space, but likely a chaotic, crowded area filled with animals and perhaps strangers. Yet in that moment of potential fear and confusion, Jesus' presence must have brought profound peace. It’s possible that His first miracle was the quiet act of bringing tranquility to that turbulent moment. The Prince of Peace was already at work.

We’ve all experienced the peace that a baby brings as it’s held in careful arms and against a softened shoulder. I can only imagine the peace the Christ child must have brought to the space He was born into—already calming the storms, not just around Him, but in His people’s hearts.

In fact, true peace can only be found in Christ. He offers us the same peace He brought to that manger—a peace that quiets our fears and calms our troubled hearts. Peace isn't always about improved circumstances or the absence of struggle, but about an inner stillness that defies explanation. When we invite it, this same peace finds us in our own moments of uncertainty and fear.

The Genesis Group speaker beautifully illustrated this point by reflecting on a moment years later in Jesus’ life. Taken before Caiaphas, facing those wrongly accusing Him in a rushed, tense trial, and anticipating a certain, cruel death, He "held His peace.” Perhaps this was more than simply keeping quiet. It may have been a deep, unshakable calm granted to Him in His hour of need. If so, it exemplifies the inner peace that He, in turn, offers us. A peace that transcends circumstances.

It’s a peace that is at once accessible and beyond our understanding. It’s a peace that is offered to me. To you. Not as a distant concept, but as a living, breathing reality today. It holds us steady when fear and confusion and loss threaten to overwhelm. It whispers, "Even here, even now, you’re okay."

This Christmas, may we know our Personal Prince of Peace—not just as a title, but as a personal invitation to rest, to breathe, to find calm in the midst of our stories. It’s His gift to us.

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”