Daily applying these four principles will help you flourish instead of flounder as you face the inevitable challenges and demands of these last days. Photo: Pexels
Vicki Griffin
February 18, 2021Eternity without pain is on the horizon but, in the meantime, God has a special four-part “peace plan” to guide, strengthen and empower you, filling your life with peace, purpose and joy. Daily applying these four principles will help you flourish instead of flounder as you face the inevitable challenges and demands of these last days. They are:
1. A Lifestyle that Promotes Peace. Lifestyle is a major factor that affects mental, physical, social and spiritual health. Lifestyle choices matter, especially the ones we repeat every day. They have a profound affect on brain function which is the seat of your thinking, emotions and decisions. “Many of the fundamental tools for the care and feeding of the brain are everyday matters. Physical and mental exercise, proper nutrition and adequate sleep will help anyone gain cognitive clarity and emotional stability.”[2] Healthy food choices, rest and daily exercise are powerful mental, physical and spiritual health promoters.
2. Attitudes that Produce Peace. Your thoughts and attitudes have a powerful effect on the rest of your body, especially your immune, nervous and digestive systems. We can literally think ourselves into a frenzy, but God promises His peace, “perfect peace,” to the one whose mind is centered upon Him (Isaiah 26:3). He invites us to trust Him with every circumstance of our life. “A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul.”[3] This is an attitudinal discipline that focuses on God’s truth and solutions rather than fear, circumstances and unreliable emotions.
3. Spiritual Principles that Secure Peace. “Spiritual well-being is at the center of a healthy lifestyle.”[4] To meet our deepest longings, God has provided spiritual principles that bring true life satisfaction. This does not come with wealth, fame, popularity or even perfect health. It comes through making peace with God — in entering into a surrendered, saving relationship with Him. God’s love is the foundation of a relationship with Him and healthy relationships with each other.
4. Faith that Preserves Peace. Faith is more than positive thinking. It is connecting with the living God who seeks to restore what sin has broken and taken away. Jesus never promised an absence of problems. Faith is the conviction that God will guide you and give you power through both good times and bad. Faith says, “Either make the problem smaller, or me bigger!” God has a plan and He cares for you in a very personal way. For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, purposes of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Especially now, in these troubled times, Jesus invites you to enter His peace plan. He will help you thrive, not just survive, the storms of life.
Visit LifestyleMatters.com for more resources.
Vicki Griffin, MS, Human Nutrition, MPA
