Living in God’s peace is vital to enjoying life. I believe that one of the keys to living with peace in your life is taking small steps toward peace every day. Here are a few tips you can use to develop a more peaceful lifestyle.
1. Be selective with how you spend your time. You may be trying to do too many things and end up doing none of them well. Hurrying is the flesh trying to do more than the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. Be led by the Spirit.
2. Be prepared to say “no” nicely. Sometimes we take on things we shouldn’t because we’re uncomfortable saying no. Ask God to give you the words to say no when you need to.
3. Resist the spirit of procrastination. God’s Word tells us to exercise self-discipline. Do what you know you need to do now so you can fully enjoy your times of rest.
4. Eliminate key distractions. If you know you are prone to certain distractions, such as watching TV, set some guidelines for yourself.
5. Set appropriate boundaries for interruptions. Life is full of interruptions, but you can learn to set boundaries that help you manage them in healthy ways, such as scheduling times when you are “off limits.” Schedule time to give yourself a break.
6. Modify your life. Ask God to show you out-of-the-box ways to save time and trouble. For instance, when I don’t have time to do the dishes, I use paper plates!
7. Pray and listen. If you can see that your plan is not producing peace, go back to God, pray for peace in the now, and for the wisdom to make changes that will benefit your life.
The bottom line is to make peace a priority, take practical steps toward it, and let God lead you every day into His perfect peace that passes all understanding.
Prayer Starter: God, lead me into Your peace that passes all understanding. Show me the daily steps I can take to walk in Your peace for me.
* This is an excerpt from Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional : Promises For Your Everyday Life
We can all use peace in our lives. Life can be pretty chaotic. But we weren’t meant to be that way. These are great tips, especially the ones about honoring the time you have and guarding it. When we say no to one thing, we’re actually saying yes to something else. We have to choose our yeses wisely. I for one, should pray for peace and set some boundaries! Thanks for these great tips to live a peaceful life.
Hi Icar! I love that your blog is a little sanctuary! These are lovely (doable!) tips to truly bring more peace into our lives. Thank you for sharing this.
I’ve always loved that verse, Philippians 4:7. I needed the reminder about rejecting procrastination and eliminating distractions. Facebook can be a big distraction for me. I need to use it in a good way, and not abuse it.
I have certainly felt God’s peace that passes understanding in a couple key moments in my life. But experiencing it on a daily basis… Oh I wish I could let go sometimes so that I could experience that! Oh to live with that kind of peace everyday! I am a planner and very type A. This is something that I am working on!
Such great tips! Today’s world is so fast paced that it can be hard to just slow down and feel peace. I plan to start doing more of these each day. Thanks!
#2 is something that I still struggle with, though I’ve been better at it since moving abroad. It’s so hard to say no sometimes, especially if it’s a friend or a family member.
These are some great ways to keep peace in the home, as well as in life. One thing that helps me is setting alarms, even when I’m just laying down to relax (not sleep) setting an alarm allows me the peace of not worrying about a clock.
Thanks for the list. I have recently embarked on working from home (full time) and I must say #5 ‘Set appropriate boundaries for interruptions’ is the hardest. Folks now think I am showing off or rude, but I am simply trying to balance my time.
This post speaks to my heart. There are so many distractions all around, I need to outline how to avoid them and focus on Him.
Procrastination is my middle name! I am guilty. I’m a list maker. Lists help me to stay on track. My get back on track prayer is ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight.’
All of these are great tips!
These are all great tips, I have a copy of Christian Ways to Reduce Stress and read it everyday – life is too short to be not be in peace.
What a great post! I have found all of these to be true. I also have found it helpful to set aside time to let myself be distracted, if that makes sense. I have found that it is helpful to allow myself to be unproductive sometimes so I don’t fall into the pattern of always being in a high stress mode. Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful post. I struggle with all of these things and it’s something that I work on every single day. I am not a religious person and that’s also something that I struggle with every single day. I have a lot to think about I guess. I really enjoyed this.
Very useful tips for this modern era. I would like to add to your list…..
Practice silence daily.
Hi there, thanks for this – it’s certainly a discipline isn’t it? Removing distraction and remaining purposefully focussed are so important – I can become so easily distracted! Thank you for the reminders!
Such simple steps, but what a profound difference they can make in our lives. Thank you for sharing these!
Those are GORGEOUS photos! They bring peace themselves. I could use more of the peace that only God can bring in this season of my life. Thanks for the reminders.
Easy, actionable steps to live more at peace. This was just the encouragement I needed. Thank you so much! My big struggle is saying NO….
I couldn’t agree more with all of these tips! Learning to say “no” is really hard, but it’s so essential to happiness. As a mom, I have accepted that I can’t do it all.
We could all use more peace in our lives. Thanks for these tips!
That old bug-a-boo, “No”. It can be so hard to actually say that word when there is so much that is worthwhile asking for your attention. That has been the downfall to my peace so many times over the years. I think I am just beginning to understand when and how to produce it appropriately. Icar, this is a wonderful post. Thank you for your timely reminders. To wake up feeling peaceful is the greatest life changing moment in many lives. All the best to you-
Great tips! I especially like step about being selective with your time. I have learned that when I am doing to many things that allow for down time, I become severely exhausted, I need that down time to recharge my mind and spirit. I understand why God tell’s us to rest in-between all our hard work!
haha! I totally need to print this list out and place it by my bed, on my desk, on the refrigerator and in my car! I consider myself “at peace” majority of the time, but this list is awesome and all are things I need to work on! Thanks!
Great tips! I’ve definitely been watching what I spend my time doing. We can’t do everything at once no matter how much we want to. It only leads to getting burnt out and frustrated, I’ve found in my personal experience. Now I plan out my time and make sure not to take on too much.
I need to be more selective with my time and better at saying, No. And prayer! I never seem to pray enough. Thank you for the reminders. 🙂
Being too busy is the biggest peace killer for me! I have learned to recognize the signs as I have gotten older and I have to limit my activities so that we can have peace at home! Great ideas!!
For me, being careful about who I associate with – eliminating those emotional vampires from my life – has made a huge difference in my peace. I’m very sensitive to what other people are feeling and putting out into the world, so when people around me are negative or anxious or out of control, I feel that and wind up being upset and out of sorts.
I’ve gotten better about saying no and being selective about how I spend my time as I’ve gotten older. I think I’ve just become more protective about me.
Peace is such a wonderful thing/idea to pray for. If only our prayers could be answered the world would be such a wonderful place. Your ideas for inner peace are wonderful!
Peace can be so hard to come by. I think you are right. You need to limit what you say yes to. Without that, you can’t have peace.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder, I really needed it today. I need to be better about saying No especially to things that will waste my time. And distractions is also something I am working on.
number 7 is a reminder for me, i need to practice it often. thank you for the tips, mars! regards….
Finding peace has been a hard task for me to accomplish…. I always have so much going on and lately I have had to find ways too slow down and tackle one project at a time and by doing this it has brought more peace… I need to keep doing this on daily basis …
I think you’re on to something here. I haven’t given much thought to making pace a priority in my life. I usually do pretty well at making my time with God a priority, but that tends to be more active than peaceful. I like that you’ve included taking time to pray and listen. Listening is not something I do very well and I know that I need to make more of an effort to sit back and listen for God to speak to me.
These are such great tips. I struggle so much with telling people “no” when I really need to. I never want to not be there to help someone and I forget that I cannot take care of others and maintain a spirit of giving if I do not take time to cultivate myself as well. Thank you for the reminder that saying no with grace is needed sometimes.
Life can definitely get chaotic. But, I agree with you that the chaos is often a choice. We have the ability to pare down our schedules and commitments. Saying no to some things is hard, but it may allow us to cultivate a more peaceful home life. Fantastic tips and a beautiful site!
i feel like you wrote this for me!!!! is it crazy that as i read your 7 ways i felt more peaceful?
i really need to work on being more selective with how i spend my time.
I am constantly trying to get better at this..it’s so hard.
I agree with all of these. That last one is so important. Many times, we pray and keep it moving. We don’t always stop to listen.
Nice, simple, easy to apply tips. Love #5 – that you should plan and schedule time for interruptions.
I am an enormous procrastinator and it is absolutely a peace-disrupter! Not only does it add stress when you finally get to the project, but it makes me so short-tempered with my family. You’ve written very well to capture this situation.
This is so, so beautiful. I pray for peace every day, and pray that God will guide me in everything that I do. He is my rock, and he is my constant companion. These are so wonderful to incorporate, as well as self-love, on a daily basis. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I barely got past #1 because it resonated so much with me! I definitely overdo it! Sometimes I am spread so thin it’s a wonder I accomplish anything. Thank you for all the reminders! I need to get back to spending quiet time without worrying about “doing” something every minute of the day!