CE 1 YEAR: 27 The Spirit’s Peace

Week 27

The Spirit’s Peace

God wants you to feel peace

A result of God’s Spirit controlling you is “peace” (Gal 5:22). Your Father wants you to experience His peace at all times and in every situation (2 Thess 3:16). He wants the peace of Christ to rule in your heart (Col 3:15). This is why God gave you a Spirit of power, not fear and cowardice (2 Tim 1:7). When God’s Spirit controls you, you will experience His supernatural peace (Gal 5:22).

What does it feel like to experience God’s peace? The Greek word used in the NT for personal PEACE (eirēnē) means “the absence of fear and a sense of calm.” Peace is being free from anxious thoughts and disturbing emotions. The Spirit’s peace gives you the power to always feel calm. Do you know what being calm feels like? Stop reading for a moment. Take a deep breath and quiet your mind and heart. Focus on God’s love for you and experience the peace and calm of God. That is what God wants you to feel all the time (see John 14:26-27).

The sin of worry

The opposites of God’s PEACE include worry, anxiety, and fear. These do not come from God’s Spirit, but our sinful nature.

Worry may be the most common sin that Christians commit. Why? Because it may be the most subtle sin. While many Christians would not think of cussing, they seem to have no problems with worrying a lot.

How do we know that worry is an unnecessary sin in the Christian’s life? Because God commands us to never worry or be afraid (Phil 4:6). And breaking a commandment of God is a sin. In fact, Bible scholars claim that the most repeated command in Scripture is: “Do not fear.”

Worry is a great plague among God’s people. This is why in Jesus’ first recorded sermon, He said a lot about the sin of worry (read Matt 6:25-34). This included telling us “Do not worry about your life.” That includes a lot of things we should not worry about!

Jesus commanded His followers to not even worry about the most essential things for life, including food, water, and clothing. Are the things you worry about more critical than these? Jesus said worry was not trusting in God’s care. Worry was living like the pagans and not seeking “His righteousness.”

Likewise, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do not worry about anything” (Phil 4:6). But many Christians worry about a lot of things. It is hard for them to believe that such commands are God’s expectation for their life. Christian, understand what God is saying here. As a child of God, you NEVER have a good or true reason to be afraid or even anxious about ANYTHING.

Some may ask, isn’t there good reason to be afraid sometimes? Not according to Scripture. Again, Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life” (Matt 6:25). But elsewhere He said do not even worry about your death. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who want to kill your body” (Matt 10:28). God does not want you to be afraid of someone even killing you. If this is true, then what would He ever want you to be afraid of? Nothing!

Some claim Jesus was anxious or afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:37-38). But Jesus described His emotions when He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow” (Matt 26:38). Jesus was never anxious about anything because this is a sin.

The Greek word used in the NT for “worry” (merimma) comes from a word that means “to pull in different directions, distract.” This suggests the cause of worry: losing our focus on God. Remember Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” When the world gets us distracted and our focus divided from God, we will worry.

The meaning of worry is illustrated in the lives of the sisters Mary and Martha (read Luke 10:39-42). Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His teaching. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. The Lord told Martha not to be worried about the dinner, but to focus on Him like Mary was doing. Because Martha was distracted from focusing on Jesus, she became worried. But her sister Mary was experiencing peace because she was focused on Jesus.

God forgives us for our fear and anxiety, but it is never acceptable to Him. One reason that worry is a sin against God is because its source is not trusting or respecting God. You can worry or worship, but you cannot do both.

Unfortunately, the sin of worry usually leads to other sins. Remember how Martha acted when she was worried? She rebuked Jesus for letting Mary listen to Him instead of helping her! (Luke 10:40). Martha’s worry caused her to think and speak disrespectfully to her Lord, and her sister. Our worry causes us to be controlled by our sinful nature and sins like selfishness, complaining, and anger will follow. We said above you cannot worry and worship. It is also true that you cannot worry and love at the same time.

Finally, the sin of worry will lead many to be foolish. How many have made harmful decisions out of fear? Fear will lead you right out of God’s will for your life. Christian, remember this: NEVER make a decision in fear.

Of course, God does not want His children to be foolish. There are real dangers in this world to be avoided. So, what is one of God’s alternatives to worry to protect you? WISDOM. The Bible says that wise people are careful, recognize harmful things, and avoid them (read Prov 14:16; 22:3). God wants you to avoid unnecessary harm with wisdom, instead of trying to protect yourself with worry.

Wisdom recognizes real dangers as opposed to worry’s imagined ones. Wisdom keeps you controlled by God’s Spirit so you make good decisions. But worry disconnects you from the Spirit’s control and will cause you to make unwise and even sinful decisions.

How to experience God’s peace

What is empowering the sinful nature when you worry? You believe a LIE. Perhaps it is the LIE that worry will protect you from something or someone. And that is a LIE. Worry does not protect you, it will only weaken you and will “quench the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 5:19). As you read above, wisdom can protect you, but you don’t need worry to have wisdom. Worry will hinder wisdom.

If God commands you, “Don’t worry about anything” (Phil 4:6) then He is also saying you never have a good reason to worry. You are often tempted to think you have a good reason to worry. But that is a lie because God says He never wants you to worry. God would not command you to do something that would hurt you. In fact, your worry usually hurts you more than whatever you are worried about! Why is this? Because the vast majority of things you worry about NEVER HAPPEN!

Imagining bad things is essentially the same as actually experiencing them! You can make your life so much harder just by what you imagine and worry about! God may give you a very blessed and easy life, but it will not feel that way because you worry so much. Are you beginning to understand why God NEVER wants you to worry?

What is empowering the sinful nature when you worry? You believe a LIE. What will empower the Spirit when you are tempted to be afraid? TRUSTING the TRUTH.

When Paul wrote Philippians, he was in prison awaiting the possibility of execution. It was there that he commanded: “Do not worry about anything” (Phil 4:6). And then he explained how. He reminded us to pray about everything, asking God for help. But to also always thank God for all He has done for us (v. 7). What would this prayer and praise do? Focus your mind on what is true about how God loves you (see again Isaiah 26:3 and Phil 4:8). The Spirit’s supernatural PEACE is based on what you are believing, not what is happening to you.

The Apostle Peter gave the same advice when he encourages you to give all your worries to God because He cares about you (1 Pet 5:7). How will God take away all your worries? When you TRUST the TRUTH that He cares for you regardless of your situation.

Likewise, the Bible says that we will be filled with the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit when we trust in Him (Rom 15:13). Worry, anxiety, and fear are powerful and sinful forces in this world. They press and pull on us continually, trying to force us to submit to their destructive power. But God has given us Someone and something that are even more powerful: God’s Spirit and God’s promises. If we will trust His promises, we will have His power.

When that happens, Paul said you will experience a PEACE that exceeds anything you can understand (Phil 4:7). By this Paul meant a supernatural peace that is beyond our circumstances and superior to any other kind of peace we could have. Paul adds that God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds. Guard them from what? All the sinful and harmful effects of worry described above.

Christian, if worry, anxiety, and fears plague you, please know this. God your Father would take your head in His hands, have you look into His smiling and strong eyes, and say to you, “My son, my daughter, do not worry about anything.”

Practical application: Spend some time with God praying to Him about something you are worried about. Ask for His help. Thank Him for all His blessings. Then choose a promise that you will trust so that you can experience God’s peace. And when you are tempted again to worry about this issue, choose to focus on God’s love for you. Perhaps memorize Isaiah 26:3.

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What is perhaps the most common sin in Christianity? What is one reason for this?

2) Why do we claim it is a sin?

3) What does the Greek word for “worry” mean? How is this illustrated in the lives of Martha and Mary?

4) Why does God take worry so seriously?

5) Why should we never make a decision out of fear? Do you have an example?

6) How do we experience the supernatural peace of God’s Spirit?

7) What did God speak to you through this chapter? What will you do about it?