Philippians 4:9
As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
We all desire peace. We want peace from war with other countries. We want peace in our marriages where conflict would stop raging. We want peace with other people when our views or opinions do not line up with each other. We want peace internally from the wrestling we continually struggle with, whether it be circumstances around us or those resulting from our own decisions.
We want peace but how we go about getting that peace shows us where our hearts are. In Philippians, Paul teaches us how to live in harmony with others, and also how to live at peace with ourselves and the war in our own minds. The problem is, that we do not put into action the wisdom he outlines…at least not habitually.
Many times, we think of the word “habitually” in a negative connotation. We think of an addition or an attitude that continues to bring destruction in a marriage or relationship. But the definition of habitually simply means, by way of habit. It is an action we do out of habit rather than having to make ourselves choose to do it regularly.
Why don’t we live in harmony like Paul urges in Philippians 4:2? Could it be we have refused to work hard enough at it to make it a habit? What about the lack of peace we feel internally? Anxiety is an epidemic in our nation, perhaps even our world, and the church doesn’t seem to be immune to this. Why are we struggling to have peace or joy or contentment that we know God has provided to us through the Holy Spirit? Could it be we simply are not following Paul’s instruction in Philippians 4:9?
What is this instruction? “Practice these things.” Paul says when we practice these things, “the God of peace will be with you.” What things are we supposed to practice? “As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.” Simply put, we are to be practicing the things we have learned, seen, and received in the Word of God. What things? That can be a multiplicity of things. But let’s just take one or two from this same chapter.
In verse 2, Paul urges two fellow disciples of Jesus to “live in harmony in the Lord.” Living in harmony with other believers is a discipline and is a habit that takes work to establish and maintain. In verse 3, Paul speaks of those who have shared in his struggle and urges his readers to “help these women.” Do we partner and help other believers in need? Do we take care of each other?
Next in verse 4, Paul says “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Is rejoicing a habit within our lives that it happens without needing to think about it? Is the praises and thankfulness pouring out of our speech and attitude throughout the day even when our circumstances are difficult? Verse 5 says, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all people.” Are we people who can be spoken of as “gentle”? Are we gentle people? Does your social media account show this gentleness towards ALL people? Even those who disagree with us?
I could spend all day speaking about Philippians 4:8 and focusing my mind on the good, profitable, worthy of praise things in life. Most of us fall well short of this admonition in the way we focus and use our mental energies. What is your focus throughout the day? What do you dwell on? Do you focus on the ways your spouse isn’t holding up their end of the deal? Do you focus on what you don’t have or what you do? Do you dwell on the negative elements in our culture and politics or the “honorable”?
The truth of all of this is the word, practice. We need to understand and take personal responsibility to this word. Are we practicing? Are we continually putting into action those things we know we should be doing? Or are we justifying actions, thoughts, bitterness that are not God-glorifying? Then we have the audacity to cry out to God for our lack of peace in our hearts and lives. Are we obeying His commands to practice Philippians 4?
Are we willing to put the work in to make these disciplines habits? Habits can be difficult when they go against what comes naturally to us. We want the results of world-class athletes but do not want to pay the price of the daily habits they want. We want that healthy body but are too lazy to put into practice those disciplines that bring the results.
How similar is this to our spiritual lives? We want the peace of God Paul speaks of but continue to justify the lack of spiritual discipline in our minds and lives. We refuse to put a check on our thoughts. We continue to justify bitterness towards a spouse, a brother, a sister, a boss or co-worker. We refuse to put an end to the laziness of our social media intake. We refuse to obey God’s commands to dwell on what is excellent, good and lovely and instead fill our minds full of our streaming shows…just to chill or blow off some steam of course.
But this continual lack of obedience and discipline brings with it a lack of peace. God will not, cannot, honor our lack of obedience with the peace He offers those who obey Him. If we want what God has to offer than we have to live in obedience. This means “putting these things into practice.” Are we putting into practice those things which we know we should be?
Is our thought life reflective of Philippians 4:8? Is our social media intake or the shows we are streaming, or the radio we are listening to line up with what Paul commands us? Use Philippians 4:8 as a limpness test of your media intake. Are we living in harmony with others within the fellowship of believers as verses 2-3 tell us to? Or are we allowing bitterness, unforgiveness, and division to remain because we have been hurt by him/her?
If we desire to live to the fullest and experience everything God wants for us, everything God has offered us, everything God has for us, we must choose to put things into practice we have heard our mentors and pastors say. If we want the peace of God, we must put into practice those things His Word says to do. If we want everything God has for us, we must live in harmony with other believers. If we want the results, we must be willing to be brutally honest with ourselves and put it into practice…over and over again.
Putting into practice is an ongoing decision and action, not a one-time event. This isn’t something we do one time and we are set for life. Habits do not form with one decision or action. We must choose day after day, moment by moment, to practice and put into action those things, behaviors, and thought patterns we have been shown and commanded.
When we do, I promise You, that God will hold up His end of the bargain. Others around us may not live up to their end of the deal, our situations may not get magically better, but living in obedience opens the widows of blessing in heaven so God and His Spirit can fill Your heart and mind to the fullest.
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