Family Peace: Maintain It - Judges 14:15-16

Unfortunately, practically all do not live in a totally "peaceful" house. I am not equating that with quiet. I am speaking of one where there are not disagreements that causes voices to raise, tempers to flare, or pouts to form. I can remember being told that my younger brother and I were never going back to the store with my mom. We wore her out. I can somewhat understand a little more where my parents were at as I am in the second year of being a father.

I have experienced making poor choices because of a lack of peace in my life. The different "noises" that may be all around me, at that time, made it difficult to choose wisely. However, that doesn't give me the excuse to make the poor choices. As we reflect back to Samson's situation yesterday, let's look at some applications we can choose from to put into practice this week...

1. Develop boundaries for yourself - whether in a particular situation or in general - and stick to them, not giving in to "make people happy".
2. Take yourself away from some of the "noises" going on in your life to regroup, then move on.
3. Look for ways not to take on as much, so you don't have as much "noise"
4. See distractions as ways that the Enemy may be trying to get you to veer away from the "narrow path".
5. Don't be a distraction to others - when "no" is given, don't keep going till you get a yes
6. When you get a "no", but feel passionate about it, pray about it so that God will either give you the answer you want or you will clearly see that it is not the right time for this prayer to be answered the way you want.
7. Pray for peace in your household
8. Pray for peace in your church family

Maintaining peace doesn't mean that we are all doormats, compromising or avoiding anything we disagree with. Peace takes both sides of the issue coming to an understanding so as not to have that rift anymore between the two (or more) of you.

Use each and every opportunity to keep peace in the family!

"Peace out..."