Is there a way we can truly experience the peace of God? There is, and Bible explains it in several ways. For example, in James 1:21–22, we are told, “Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Philippians 4:4–7 says it this way: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Many of us want the kind of peace described in Philippians, yet we often unconsciously do things that God says will sabotage that peace. In some of the most practical and applicable words in the entire Bible, Philippians 4 tells us that the way to peace is to become more discerning in what we let into our mind. God says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
This is so important. If we want peace and contentment in our life, we must put our complete trust in Jesus and let go of destructive thoughts, feelings and attitudes. We are to dwell on thoughts that are noble and right and pure and lovely and admirable and praiseworthy. In other words, we must stop watching, reading, and listening to spiritual garbage and instead allow the Word of God to wash over us by reading, watching and listening to spiritually healthy media.
The old computer adage, ‘GIGO’ (Garbage In–Garbage Out) very much applies here. Satan knows every subtle trick in the book, which is why many Christians would be offended if I were to suggest that their favorite television show is likely nothing more than a tool of their most dangerous foe.
To experience God’s peace we are to “let the Word of God dwell in us richly.” We are to make Philippians 4:8-9 our mantra and dwell on whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. We are to, in the words of Colossians 3, set our hearts and minds on things above. That will impact what we watch on TV, the music we listen to, the social groups we participate in, our FaceBook activities, the magazines we subscribe to, the movies we go to, the sports we watch, and basically all the outside stimuli we allow in.
This simple act of changing what you watch and read and invest your time in will change your life in ways you can’t even imagine. Spend lots of time with Jesus every day. Take him to work and school and playtime with you. Let his promises wash over you. Let him remove those old thoughts and attitudes that are tearing you down and replace them with his thoughts, his attitude, his way of seeing and interpreting circumstances. And if you’re thinking “that sounds good, but I don’t have the time,” I plead with you to reconsider. Do you really have something more valuable to do with your time?