God wants you to have a peaceful state of mind. His word says: ‘Let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]’ (v. 15 AMPC). No position or possession is worthwhile if you don’t have peace; money, status, popularity – it’s all meaningless if you lack peace. You simply cannot put a price on the value of peace. Many of us spend our lives trying to climb the ladder of success, but every time we go up one more rung, we lose more of our peace and joy, not to mention time spent with our family. Our lives are consumed with the pressure and stress of trying to hold on to what we gained. But we are never truly successful unless we have peace. Some of us work several jobs to acquire what the world dangles in front of us, saying, ‘You must have this to be truly happy.’ We get those ‘things’, but we still don’t have any peace. Romans 14:17 tells us, ‘The kingdom of God is not meat and drink’ – it is not things that money can buy or status can secure – but it is ‘righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’ (KJV). God wants you to have your needs met abundantly and to be in a position to bless others. But don’t seek to have anything if you cannot have it peacefully.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.