Pursuing Peace

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 3:8-11

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.  For

“Whoever desires to love life    and see good days,let him keep his tongue from evil    and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good;    let him seek peace and pursue it.

This week away has provided me with precious time to read, pray, think, and write.  In a home where we are frequently tending to hurt and growing hearts, I often find myself longing for peace.  Not the kind of peace that lasts for a moment or comes in the absence of hard times, but the kind of peace that passes understanding.  A peace greater than the pain we choose to welcome into our home.

This morning I spent two quiet hours contemplating the verses above and praying over practical ways to embrace peace in our home.  The following is my simple list, based on the verses above.  While it is simple because it is taken directly from the text, I found it so very helpful as I prayed over each of my children and our days, asking God to help me pursue His peace in these ways.  I thought I'd share my list of peaceful pursuits.

Pursuing Peace:

• Rejoice
• Be reasonable
• Pray
• Give thanks
• Allow God's peace to guard my heart and mind (not depending on  the success of my plans, organization, ideas, or abilities to provide peace)
• Have unity of mind (seek unity with others)
• Be sympathetic (instead of accusing)
• Extend brotherly love (build others up and carry their burdens)
• Be tender hearted (slow to anger)
• Keep my tongue from evil and deceit
• Turn from evil
• Do good
• Seek peace (instead of success)
• Pursue peace