Sermon Info
Summary
We all want peace and contentment. The problem is, we don’t know how to get it. We go to spas, take vacations, workout and try other ways to relieve “stress,” but we never truly experience the peace or contentment we so desperately desire. As we mature in Christ, what we discover is the result of living our life in Him and for Him is peace. This is the incredible secret of the committed Christian life – peace comes from the inside out not the outside in. When we truly yield our lives to Christ, He gives us the “peace that passes understanding.” Move forward in your relationship with Jesus and experience the peace of Christ in your life.
Content
Forward: Thinking
Anxious For Nothing
Anxiety is defined as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.” For many of us, this feeling is very familiar. When something uncertain is ahead, our natural tendency may be to become anxious and fearful. The future is unknown, and our worry begins to spike. The “what-ifs” become a soundtrack in our minds, continuously on repeat.
Sadly, this tendency to become anxious and to be fearful have become almost an instinct for many of us. Instead of running to Jesus and finding peace when uncertainty arises, we immediately worry, which has only increased our doubts, our worst fears, and our stress levels. God did not design us to live this way. In fact, He has a solution to our anxiousness and fearfulness.
Turn it over to the Lord.
Though it can be easy to focus on our circumstances instead of focusing on what really matters, true peace only comes when we give our deepest fears to the One who can set us free from this destructive mindset. There is nothing too big or too small for God. We can turn it all over to Him and, in turn, trust Him to take care of us.
And it begins in our minds. What we allow into our minds will eventually come out in what we practice. When we repeatedly think about something and allow it to become a situation or circumstance that we are worried about, we begin to feed our anxiety, instead of being filled with the Holy Spirit and experiencing life and peace.
When you change your thoughts, you change your life. Jesus came to bring us freedom, so we cannot allow our anxious thoughts to hold us captive any longer.
What the Bible Says about Our Thinking & Anxiety
The Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from prison, yet in the latter portion of this letter, he says this: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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 minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) If one person had a reason to be anxious or to have a complaining spirit, it was Paul. However, his encouragement here says to do the opposite of that. He exhorts those reading to not be anxious about anything, but, instead, to give all our worries and requests over to God, as well as give thanks to Him.
And the result is that we will experience true peace that nothing in this world can compare to. This peace, in turn, will guard our hearts and minds – from anxiety, from allowing the Enemy’s lies to infiltrate our thoughts, from anything that isn’t of Christ.
A few verses later, Paul tells us, in contrast, the things that we should allow into our minds: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These such things are what will change us from the inside out, as “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
When we take captive our thoughts and begin to focus on what is true, our thoughts begin to be grounded in contentment. Rather than being anxious about our uncertain futures, we can rest in the firm foundation of Christ, resting in the promise found at the end of the book of Philippians that we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. (Philippians 4:13)
True contentment lies in a security that you are not living by your own strength. No, true contentment comes from knowing that God has you. He promises to never leave or forsake us. He promises to be our peace and our guide. He promises to give us a future and a hope. Our God is faithful to His promises, as we’ve seen throughout the book of Philippians and Scripture as a whole. We can trust our good God.
Contentment + Peace = Freedom in Christ
We all want peace from our worries and fears. We all want freedom from the anxious thoughts that occupy our minds. We all want to change our way of thinking. And we all can have this freedom. It is possible – but only in Christ.
How different would your life look if you began living in light of the truth that God will meet all of your needs (Philippians 4:19)? How different would your thoughts be if you began feeding thoughts that are lovely, praiseworthy, and true instead of anxious thoughts? Jesus longs to be our peace, but we must take action to fight anxiety and fear. We must cast out the lies from the Enemy and replace them with the truth that we are loved, chosen, and called by the God of the Universe. We are God’s chosen people, and He will use us, as ordinary humans, to make an impact for the Kingdom.
Let’s start today, church. Let’s begin replacing our anxious thoughts with thoughts that are focused on Jesus. It’s possible with Jesus’ help. You are not alone in this.
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