Words spoken to my heart from the Lover of my soul...
Remember love is simply an offering, an invitation. It ceases to be love the moment a demand accompanies it. When it is rejected - it is still Love! To be refused does not diminish it's value. Darkness cannot receive it. (And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5)
Love always makes a way for peace and joy for the one who offers it. You must remain in Love to abide in Love's benefits. The moment you try to control others you forfeit the fruit of the Spirit. It is like walking a tight-rope. You are fine as long as your focus is on the wire and not the fear of falling. I ask you to walk on the edge of hell everyday. There is little margin. When you keep your eyes on the strength of that which holds you (Love), you will always make forward progress. It's when you try to reason with the darkness around you, that you become extremely vulnerable to falling.
When you do fall, simply get back up and learn from it. Waste nothing in your pursuit for the Kingdom. Each fall is valuable.
Peter took a hard hit when he fell three times in a row, but I had prayed for him to not stay down, but to return to care for My sheep. It was what he learned in the falls that made him qualified to handle the sheep more tenderly, with a heart of Love rather than one of personal gain or rights.
The moment you lose your peace, you have strayed from Love. You will always fall when you wrestle for Love, rather than operating from it. This too was a valuable lesson that Peter learned. His failures taught him that he could not earn Love, nor could his failures exempt him from Love's reach! Love just is! Human goodness, nor human failure can change it - for Love just is. For all of eternity Love just is! The only part you play is to simply receive it for the gift it is and then to offer it to others. It cannot be improved upon by human effort, nor decreased by human failure...for it is NOT of flesh, but by My Spirit says the Lord.