While I am a big fan of enumerated lists of ways to do something 21 was a lot! So I am prioritizing. Some of them I have already been working on:
Peacekeeper #4: Don’t Worry About the Future
Peacekeeper #8: Stop Rushing
Peacekeeper #11: Keep Your Priorities in Order
Peacekeeper #12: Protect Your Health
Peacekeeper #13: Avoid Financial Pressure
Peacekeeper #14: Keep Your Thoughts Above Life’s Storms
Peacekeeper #16: Adapt Yourself to the Needs of Others
Peacekeeper #20: Maintain a Quiet Inner Life
Others are good next steps:
Peacekeeper #5: Don’t Be Double-Minded
"God’s way is one of being decisive. We are not to make decisions so quickly that we don’t give them proper thought and prayer. We should seek wisdom and be sure we are following peace. But once we have done all we can do to assure we are making a right decision, as far as we know, there is nothing else to do except be courageous and do something, lest we do nothing." While I am in general a very decisive person, there is often a lot of questioning or self-doubt after the fact. This has become increasingly true as I have been working on shedding projects and other areas that are not priorities. Fewer priorities and increased mental space has left room for a lot of self-doubt which for sure is not the end goal.
Peacekeeper #6: Stay Supernaturally Relaxed
"To have peace, it is very important that we abide in Christ, and this means to spend time with Him on a consistent basis. In the world we live in today, a little bit of time with God is not enough. God has to be first in our thoughts, in our conversations, in our finances, and in our schedules. Don’t try to work God into your schedule; work your schedule around Him. Put Him first, and everything will work properly." I have purposely set God as the first and foremost priority in my life, but have work to do in ensuring my daily thoughts and actions reflect this.
Peacekeeper #7: Avoid Strife to Maintain Peace with God
"God did not create us to live in the war zone all the time. We are supposed to have peace, and when something happens to disturb our peace, we have to work to get it back." Dang, this is a hard one given the current state of our nation. I am fortunate that within most of my personal relationships there is peace, but I am having a difficult time balancing wanting to ensure I am doing my part in advocating for those in need in a way that does not also disturb my peace i.e. keeping me awake at night recounting posts I read from people whose beliefs about the world make little to no sense to me.
Peacekeeper #9: Accept Yourself and Peacekeeper #10: Focus on Your Unique Strengths
"If you are not at peace with yourself, you won’t enjoy your life. You are one person you never get away from, not even for one second. You are everywhere you go, therefore, if you don’t like and accept yourself, you cannot possibly be anything other than miserable." With this one it's not that I don't like myself, it's that I think I am never enough. That I am always supposed to be doing more, being more. What that more is seems to be ever changing, so it may be time to consider that I need to figure out what God thinks is enough.
Peacekeeper #15: Esteem Others as Higher than Yourself
"The only way we can ever hope to have peace in our relationships is if we are willing to humble ourselves and esteem others the way Jesus does. This means that we are not to think we are too good, or too important, to be the ones who initiate the act of making and maintaining peace with someone else."
Peacekeeper #18: Establish Boundaries with People
Like many people, I was guilty of not establishing and maintaining boundaries in relationships for many years, but after seeing how this adversely affected my health and peace, I made some drastic changes. People don’t always like boundaries, but we are definitely wise to establish them.
Peacekeeper #19: Let Go of Offenses
"We should form a habit of dealing only with what God Himself prompts us to address, not just everything we feel like confronting, or every little thing that bothers us. I am the type of person who would not be inclined to let anybody get away with anything."
Some I feel I am already doing consistently and others are future goals:
Peacekeeper #1: Trust the Lord of Peace
Peacekeeper #2: Make Peace Through a Surrendered Will (I suspect this will always be a work in progress!)
Peacekeeper #3: Know Your Enemy
Peacekeeper #17 Beware of Idle Talk
Peacekeeper #21 Aggressively Pursue Peace
21 is a lot y'all, but I'm going to give it a shot. Wish me luck!
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