How To Be Peaceful

"Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14, ESV

Peace is something that everyone wants but not many have. The psalm quoted above clearly states that if we want to have peace in our lives we must be intentional in our pursuit of it.These two verses below are a good blueprint for how to seek and pursue peace in our hearts and lives.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."Luke 6:45, ESV

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." Galatians 6:7, 8 ESV

When I think about peace, three different aspects of my life comes to mind: the internal, the circumstantial, and the interpersonal.

The internal aspect of peace is what happens within myself. Specifically, it is how I think and feel about myself. It is important to accept who God made you to be. It is important to stop trying to be like everyone else and be yourself. God made you the way you are for a reason. He has a plan for your life: EMBRACE IT!! Similarly, it is also important to understand and accept that you are not, and never will be, perfect. Life is a journey of growing ever closer to God, of changing, of expanding your comfort zone, of continual learning. Embrace this aspect of life, and be gracious towards yourself for not being perfect. Adopt the attitude that Joyce Meyer expresses in the following quote towards yourself and your life.

“I may not be where I need to be but I thank God I am not where I used to be.” Joyce Meyer

The circumstantial aspect of peace has to do with life events. Whether it is a health condition, financial, or family situation, it is important to understand two things about external circumstances:

1. We all make mistakes and get into situations that eventually become overwhelming and require "rescuing" from. This is part of why we are called "sheep" in the bible. Sheep are continually getting into trouble from which they cannot save themselves. We do the same thing. So, trust that your Shepherd will come to your rescue, even when you get yourself in trouble!!

2. There are aspects of life that we cannot control. Things will happen that we cannot prevent and can do nothing to resolve. When this happens, you have two options. You can either freak out, stress out, and gain nothing from it, or you can accept them for what they are and trust that your Shepherd will rescue you from this one as well.

Either way, trusting in the wisdom, power, and loving kindness of your father/shepherd/rescuer/lover of your soul, is a fundamental aspect of living a life in peace. That is why He says that "the righteous shall live by faith."

The third aspect of peace, the interpersonal, has to do with our relationships with others. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers or classmates, difficulties will arise. Difficulties will even arise with complete strangers in unexpected ways. For example, have you ever been cut-off in traffic by a reckless driver that decided to do something dangerous and put you and your family at risk? This can be quite disturbing. People are imperfect, sinful, selfish, etc., and this will cause difficulties, disagreements, and strife. It is important to make love, grace, wisdom, and humility the centerpiece of the way in which you interact with others. It is just as important to trust that God will protect you from the poor decisions that others make, just as He will protect others from your (or my) poor decisions!!

Living in peace, at whichever level, always requires trusting in God and listening to His advice and wisdom. As we stated earlier, in order to obtain peace, you must be intentional about your pursuit of it. You need to start sowing seeds of peace into all three aspects of you life: the way you see and think about yourself, the way you perceive the world, and your relationships with others.

Are you sowing peace, love, and faith into your heart and life, or are you sowing something else?