What Leads to a Peaceful Life?

How seamlessly do you adjust to new seasons? Do you enjoy your current family rhythm in this season? Is there anything you wish you could add or subtract from your schedule to create more ideal days?

This conversation came up because I have camped out in Romans 14 this week and It. Is. So. Good!!!

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 14:9 (NIV)

As soon as I read this, my instant question was “what leads to peace and to mutual edification?” If I am supposed to make every effort to do that, then I want to learn how to strategically apply this to my own life.

When I want to understand the original language of the Bible better, I turn to Blueletterbible.org. Here is what I discovered: Mutual edification is being in a reciprocal relationship where we pursue God’s gift of wholeness together. 

So, my strategy includes four parts: peace, mutual edification, spiritual growth, and wholeness. 

First, what practices lead to peace that I can do individually and with others that also produce spiritual growth in our lives? Once we have a starting list for that question, we can then unpack what is included in wholeness. Throughout the process, we are aiming to learn how we can realistically make every effort to pursue all of these things.

What are some examples of things which make for peace, build each other up reciprocally AND lead to spiritual growth? 

I took a few minutes to journal my responses to this question, and this is the list I came up with:

* Living intentionally to pursue purposeful priorities and convictions God has placed on my heart

* Sharing a meal and conversation (cultivating a heart for hospitality)

* Taking turns asking questions and responding with active listening

* Using my spiritual gifts (If you haven’t already read X: Multiply Your God-Given Potential by John Bevere, I recommend it!)

* Offering all five of Dr. Gary Chapman’s Love Languages: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Quality Time (if this concept is new to you, listen to the Five Love Languages Episode)

* Praying for each other

* Leaning into Gary Thomas’s Nine Sacred Pathways (He explains this in Nine Ways to Connect with God)

* Maximizing Andy Stanley’s list of Five Things God Uses To Grow Your Faith: practical teaching, providential relationships, private disciplines, personal ministry, and pivotal circumstances. *For instance, we can’t pursue pivotal circumstances, but when we are connected and involved in a reciprocal relationship, we have the opportunity to be present, supportive, or celebratory during pivotal changes in other’s lives and hopefully they will be in ours as well. 

Now we have a starting place for strategically pursuing peaceful spiritual growth with others. Next, we are exhorted to pursue wholeness together and to do it often. 

So, what is wholeness and how do we pursue it together to enjoy a peaceful life?

I will share my responses to these questions, but I am even more excited to hear yours!

What makes up wholeness? Wholeness includes our mind, body, soul, and spirit. 

What areas come together to produce wholeness in your life? If you consider your life as a pie, how would you name each slice that you value? 

My pie includes these slices: spiritual, physical, intellectual, rest, relational bonds, work, calling, rewards, joy, delight, serving, and outpouring from the abundant overflow.

Is your list similar? What would you add or take away?

Once you have your list in mind, consider this: 

How can I grow spiritually with others by passionately pursuing wholeness? 

I will share my ideas, not for you to replicate, but to help get you started designing and implementing your own ideas. 

Here are my slices and examples of the wholeness pie:

Spiritual: What fills me up spiritually? Bible reading, fellowship, listening to Dwell, reading Bible stories or singing songs to our daughters, worshiping, conversation, prayer, journaling, and practicing gratitude. 

Physical: What makes me physically healthy? Walking, stretching, playing with the kids, swimming, drinking plenty of water, prioritizing sleep, and limiting my consumption of food created in factories.

Intellectual: What is intellectually stimulating and enjoyable as I engage the mind God gave me? Reading, reading books aloud to our kids, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, and asking questions in conversation. 

Rest: What is restful? What refuels me to pour out? Adequate sleep, taking breaks, and maintaining productive rhythms during the day while our kids have quiet time. 

Relational Bonds: If relationships are the top of my priority list, how do I grow deeper relational bonds with loved ones? Daily marital connection, one-on-one time with our daughters, shared family meals, adults-only time with friends, practicing hospitality, engaging face-to-face as much as possible, asking thoughtful questions and responding with active listening to anyone with whom I get to interact. 

Work/Calling: What work has God called me to in this season? My work includes motherhood, managing our home, and ministering through The Savvy Sauce. My calling engages my mind for writing, speaking, listening, asking questions, and sharing. This good labor also involves working with my hands: cleaning, maintaining, learning new skills, food prep, and focusing on special projects. 

Delight, Rewards & Joy: What is something each member of my family can look forward to every day? What do each of us delight in? What are some sweet parts of life we can be intentional about incorporating? Celebration, gathering together with friends, enjoying laughter, fellowship, meaningful conversation, creating seasonal bucket lists, traveling, practicing Sabbath, and taking/enjoying pictures.

A simple goal is to incorporate a minimum of one delight per day for everyone in our entire family because we always need something to look forward to! 

Outpouring/Serving: How can I pour out from the overflow of what Christ has poured into me? Hosting, preparing, surprising and delighting, pursuing random acts of kindness, using and exercising and cultivating Spiritual gifts for the building up of others, and sharing generously. 

Now that you have crafted your own list, invite your roommate or spouse or your children to create their own list too!

Working together to pursue a peaceful life, spiritual growth, and wholeness together is a worthwhile pursuit! 

Next, it’s time to plug in your ideal list to your daily rhythm. You can reflect on your days to determine which hours are best for each area, because my friend, Elizabeth Dixon says “not all hours in the day are created equal.” (She is full of wisdom and has been a repeat guest on The Savvy Sauce podcast. Listen to her insight on living intentionally and stewarding our business)

This next step helps us figure out the daily rhythm where we build upon these and grow through application. (See James 1:22)

This consistent application over time results in amazing transformation!

It begins with first recognizing where you are. So, what stage of life are you in right now? Are you single? Are you a new mom? Did your youngest child just begin kindergarten? Did you recently get married? Even if you haven’t experienced a big life change, your season has changed from a few months ago. Maybe you had a wonderful summer rhythm, but it may look very different from your current fall routine. As we are quickly approaching the holidays and winter, we may need to re-evaluate our ideal rhythms again.

What is important to you as you look at the next few months? What slices of the pie need your attention the most? Are there any simple tweaks that could improve your peace, pursuit of wholeness, reciprocal relationships, and spiritual growth?

When I analyzed our schedule, I realized I could enjoy spiritual, physical, emotional/restorative, and delight by waking up just one hour before our kids were awake.

As long as I am disciplined to go to bed at a decent hour, I can wake up refreshed and be able to pack more into one uninterrupted hour than I could fit in the next 12+ hours combined when the kids are awake! Within that hour, I get dressed and ready for the day, walk while listening to a podcast, and enjoy my coffee while reading the Bible and journaling in peace.

By the time our daughters are all awake, my mind, body, and soul and spirit are equipped for the start of a new day!

For more motivation to solidify your own profitable morning routine, check out Bite-Size Habits That Will Change Your Life and Ordering Your Priorities. 

Peace and harmony often go together. One definition of harmony is “a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts.”  

I noticed once I had an ideal schedule mapped out for the day and communicated it to the family (I wrote it on a white board and reviewed it each morning), it brought instant peace within me and harmony between our family members. I hope you find the same to be true in your home! 

Now that you have done the work to see how to apply Romans 14:9 to your life, the only thing left is to go do it!

My prayer is for everyone whose eyes are reading this right now to be motivated to enjoy a peaceful life, as you apply Scripture to your own life. Amen!

Let’s circle back to our foundational verse for today. I like to look across various translations for a broader understanding of the Truth communicated in Scripture. The Amplified version of the Bible says Romans 14:9 this way:

“So then, let us pursue [with enthusiasm] the things which make for peace and the building up of one another [things which lead to spiritual growth].”

Romans 14:9 (AMP)

Your enthusiastic commitment to pursue things today, which make for peace and build up one another, will make an eternal impact on yourself and generations to come as it leads to spiritual growth. Let's do this!

May you experience God’s peace today and always!

Sincerely,

Laura

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About The Savvy Sauce

Practical chats for intentional living

A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders. 

They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!

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