Friday Fight 110: No Placement, No Purpose, No Peace
Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF110.
How often have we reflected on our day or week and immediately begun searching for ways to attain peace? Maybe we think about a tropical island, time off to get things done, or a weekend trip to our favorite place. We easily search for peace in worldly things or even believe teaching a class at church will change the dynamic of our week. So how do we change that mindset?
No Placement, No Purpose, No Peace
Ever asked yourself, "Who am I?" or "What's my purpose?" To understand peace, we must first understand the difference between living in peace and desiring to be more peaceful. Some see peace as the absence of chaos or conflict or something we enjoy daily. But these are not descriptions of peace. Instead, peace is a characteristic of God and a fruit of the Spirit. True peace comes from aligning with God's will and being in continuous community with Him. Romans 8:6 says, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."
We all want to feel like we are living a purposeful life, yet our placement and meaning only become more evident when we find our identity in Christ. Placing ourselves as our Savior's child not only grabs our attention in a fulfilling way but becomes the primary lens through which we see things. However, labels and the world's definition of us removes us from our identity with God. When we place ourselves in the body of Christ through repentance and accepting Him as our Savior, we can identify with His worth and stray from what the world defines as worthy. Rather than being deceived by the world in our search for temporary meaning and purpose through things that misguide and shape our souls, we are led by the Holy Spirit and are always covered by the love and grace of God.
We all need to know the world's desire to measure our worth. Our accomplishments, material things, or status do not determine our value. But when we intentionally love with the heart of Christ, our value is immeasurable. Worldly labels can be tricky and our desire to be in a particular category is spiritually dangerous. They pull us away from our God-given purpose and strip us of our peace. We search for ways to find peace while allowing the world to determine our value.
There is a cultural deception of worth that darkness uses to categorize us by areas not of God. Struggling to fight against these fills our days with chaos creating conflict with others and ourselves. Darkness works tirelessly to exploit our weaknesses and label us accordingly.
God values all of us regardless of what we have done or what has been done to us. Now is the perfect time to consider what labels have been used to describe our lives or purpose, removing our identity with God. The most important identity we can walk in is the truth of God's love and mercy. Let's be careful not to let our flesh govern our minds. Peace is a gift from God that we are to pursue. In God's peace, we find stability and safety; in serving Him by loving others as Christ has shown us, we experience a life of grace and peace. Never the love the position that the world deems worthy allowing that to control our lives, but the possession of being a child of the Most High and allowing that to discover peace.
Pastor Shannon
New Life Calvert