“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
Peace is a practice. What I mean to note is that peace doesn’t simply fall upon those who are lucky enough to be enraptured by it. Instead, peace is something to take hold of by an act of discipline. As one confirms themselves to regimented thoughts and behaviors, peace is a natural response. To many Christian’s have the erroneous thought that all that is necessary for peace is to no longer be in conflict. This, occurring at salvation, does mean that there is an enmity with God that is resolved, but they forget that their is a reason why that divide was created in the first place. It is the discipline of right thinking as practices in discipleship that resolves this problem. This truth may feel like a disappointment to some, but it should be a great source of encouragement as it puts our mental health into our own hands with simple, or not difficult, things we can do to better function. If we simply face our negative circumstance with prayer, thanks, appropriate focus and follow appropriate mentorship that is god honoring, then peace is a promise. This has staggering implications and transformative power o abilities in a world where anxiety is not relieved but medicated and taught to be ignored. Praise God who knows what is best.
JOSH McGARY. COM 