"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

—Luke 2:14

"If you want a happy, good life, keep control of your tongue, and guard your lips from telling lies.  Turn away from evil and do good.  Try to live in peace even if you must run after it to catch and hold it."

—I Peter 3;10, 11 The Living Bible

There comes a time when every individual should personally assess the meaningfulness of life. An assessment of this magnitude requires one to prioritize things of importance in life and live a responsible lifestyle consistent with those characteristic values.

Living in a society of such diversity, differentiated values and misplaced priorities, poses a problem with the value system in America. Yes, diversity is beautiful. But in a matter of life and death how can we place our confidence in such a broad spectrum of values discolored by imperfections and inconsistencies? There must be a common ground on which society can build its value system. There has to be a standard that will be the ultimate measure for evaluating true worth. We must identify who is capable and worthy of making such an assessment that is superior to all of society. Just keep reading and I'll tell you!

It is a reality that you pay a price to possess anything of value. No doubt, everyone desires to have the best in life— the 'finer' things of life. It is a startling fact that we eagerly pay whatever price necessary to possess tangible things we assess as valuable. While it is absolutely nothing wrong with having costly items, my concern is the mindset that expensive items give meaning to life and somehow makes us feel important. An honest assessment of life is not determined by having or not having valuable items. Yet, we associate meaningfulness and success with possessions, and take great pride in the prices we pay for them. What happens to individuals with this mindset but can't afford the cost of valuable items? It stands to reason that they will assess life as meaningless. After the cycle of reluctantly settling for second best, feelings of insignificance surface, which are expressed through irrational and irresponsible behaviors. Perhaps, this explains the downward trend seen in the value system of society. The 'second-best recycling syndrome' has caused priorities to perish and values to vanish. Unfortunately, many fail to realize how such a miscalculated assessment affects all of society. Really now, is having "things" that important?

We must realize that the price we pay for items is by choice; but it is not by choice that we pay for the loss of valuables, which money cannot buy—moral character, inner peace and life itself. Presently, we are on the brink of bankruptcy because of crime and violence. Never in the history of America has extortion been exposed to such a degree. Why? Namely, because of greed and the desire for things and more things even at cost of hurting others!

Ultimately, the spiritual deposits in our soul have been depleted. Grief, pain and sorrow are the emotional embezzlers from the tragedies of life resulting from a lack of inner peace and godly contentment.

The time of assessment has come! What better time to reevaluate and assess your priorities? Surely, you will agree that moral character, family values and ethics are important. The Ten Commandments were engraved in stone to establish a foundation upon which society could build its value system. However, it is obvious this is not being done. We have become so insensitive to moral values in America that the Ten Commandments are being banned from display in places where they are most needed. The penal institutions are full of law breakers, not to mention the ones who haven't been apprehended, because the Ten Commandments are considered invaluable in the 21st Century.

We must face the truth! We are in a war. The mind is is the battleground and the battle is between good and evil— life and death. Yes, we are concerned about the threat of war at the hands of terrorists, but the greater struggle now is in the mind. At this juncture, PEACE should be most valuable and important. It is certainly most needed. We need peace among the nations, peace in our government, peace in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities, and sadly to say, we need peace in our religious organizations. But more importantly, we need peace in our hearts—peace with God!

Without the peace of God life can become unbearable trying to cope with the daily challenges. Peace of mind is assurance that good will ultimately win over evil even in the midst of confusion and chaotic circumstances.

God, the Creator of the heavens and earth, the Sovereign Ruler, The Great Assessor has made the ultimate assessment! He assesses each life as worthy of honor and glory because we're made in His image. His standards are the measurements of true worth. His priority is that we be reconciled to Him through faith in His Son Jesus the Christ. That was the reason for Christ being born.

As we celebrate the CHRISTmas season, let us be reminded of God's desire for us to have peace on earth. Jesus, the Prince of Peace paid the price for our peace. Isaiah 53:5, says, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. That means He was punished so that we would be entitled to peace in every aspect of our life! We can't buy it, we can't earn it, we can't steal it! It's a free gift from God. All one has to do is receive it through faith in Jesus as the Savior of world. Isn't that what we're celebrating? Nothing we could ever buy with money can take the place of peace with God in our heart. The price for our inherited possessions, both naturally and spiritually was paid for by the death of Jesus on the cross. His resurrection guaranteed our peace. Faith alone in Jesus Christ entitles you to peace as your personal possession. It's called having life and life more abundantly!

Hopefully, your priority will be your relationship with Jesus Christ. I pray that as you celebrate this holiday season you will let the peace that only The Prince of Peace can give be your valuable possession. After all, the price of peace was more than any of us could afford to pay.