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A Habit of Peace

Posted February 26th, 2008 by Jen in religion

Easter Lily on my back porchI’ve decided I must pursue peace as a habit of life. I’m calling it a habit because I have some control over this attitude of the heart and mind; peace is a practice and pattern I can cultivate no matter the circumstances around me. I know this because I’ve been cultivating the opposite habits in my life lately: turmoil and anxiety. Apparently, I’ve tended to them well, because they are flourishing like weeds.

The ever-present worry, knots in my stomach, and uneasiness of late have become like a tiresome, old friend. I strangely cling to them out of familiarity and a bizarre sense of duty to hold onto them. If I let go of these worrisome habits, will I be doomed? Not worrying equals sure ruin, in my twisted mind. How does one come to such a warped understanding? For me, It’s partly the result of being continually let down as a child, so to hope for good things meant they surely would not come to pass.

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity. ~St. Augustine

I need to retrain my mind to diligently run after peace. How do habits get formed, anyway? I suppose by performing the same action over and over. The amount of mental will-power required to retrain your mind is enormous! Truly, only with God’s help is this possible.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ~ Aristotle

I noticed yesterday, even after some situations had been resolved, that I still had residue of worry over the very thing — it was there from habit only. A great big light bulb went off in my head! I was never trained in the habit of peace — which is ultimately a complete trust in God and his love for you. I’ll be instructing myself in the habit of peace by doing a few things:

1. Praying for God’s help to overcome my destructive habits.

2. Memorizing scripture that deals with the peace of Christ and commands against worry (Matthew ch. 6, for example).

3. Recognizing the instant a worrisome thought enters my mind, and replacing it with peace — thoughts centered on the character of God and His good plans for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11).

Grace and Peace to you, my friends.

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9 Responses

  1. e-Mom February 26th, 2008 at 11:37 am

    “I have peace like a river, I have peace like a river I have peace like a river in my soul.” Know the song? I like to sing it over and over when I get those darn butterflies. Seems to help chase my fears away. :~D

  2. mrs darling February 26th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    I hear ya!

  3. MooBeeMa February 26th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    This post speaks to my little worrisome heart.

  4. Jen February 27th, 2008 at 9:16 am

    e-Mom, of course I know the song! And hand motions to go with it. :-) Thanks for the reminder.

    Mrs. Darling and MooBeeMa, thanks — not that I want anyone to share my misery, but it’s always good to know that you’re understood.

  5. GP February 27th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    beautiful… go in “peace”… serve the L-rd
    shalom my friend

    gp in montana

  6. megan February 28th, 2008 at 1:11 am

    Great thoughts on this! This is something I have been thinking and praying about a LOT the last few months.

  7. Jen February 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am

    GP, thank you very much for the peace greeting. Such simple words and yet so full of meaning, and I immediately felt better.

    Megan, I’m learning about the spiritual battle of the mind, and to get through these destructive habits of worry and anxiety, I need to go back to that passage about putting on the “whole armor of God.” I seem to have not noticed that I’ve been heading naked into battle!

  8. Annette March 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    well spoken. thank you. We need that reminder don’t we…to cultivate peace. To actively seek after the peace of God. To pray that the God of peace, grant peace to us. well spoken.

  9. journeying forward April 18th, 2008 at 1:10 am

    Well put, Jen. Anxiety is not of God. His word is clear on that. And yet, how often we all need that reminder. Hope your training in the habit of peace is going well for you.

    Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

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