Why Can’t People Make Peace?​—⁠What Does the Bible Say?

World leaders and international organizations have not been able to bring peace. Today, there are more violent conflicts than at any time since World War II. About two billion people​—a quarter of the world’s population—​live in areas affected by such conflicts.

Why can’t humans achieve peace? What does the Bible say?

1. 1. People display attitudes that prevent them from even trying to make peace. The Bible foretold that during our time, “men [would] be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, . . . disloyal, . . . not open to any agreement, . . . without self-control, fierce, . . . headstrong, puffed up with pride.”​—2 Timothy 3:2-4.

2. 2. Humans, individually and collectively, do not have the ability to solve their problems without the help of their Creator, Jehovaha God. The Bible reveals that “it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”​—Jeremiah 10:23.

3. 3. The world is under the influence of a powerful and wicked ruler, Satan the Devil, who “is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) As long as “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one,” there will be war and conflict.​—1 John 5:19.

The Bible assures us that peace will come, not through human effort, but from God.

• “‘For I well know the thoughts that I am thinking toward you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’”​—Jeremiah 29:11.

How will God fulfill that promise? “The God who gives peace will crush Satan.” (Romans 16:20) God will use a heavenly government, which the Bible refers to as “the Kingdom of God,” to establish peace worldwide. (Luke 4:43) Under Jesus Christ, the King of that Kingdom, people will be taught how to live in peace.​—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

• To learn more, read the article “What Will God’s Kingdom Accomplish?”