Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:10] Welcome back to another weekday podcast. I'm so glad you're here today. Recently, I saw a family Christmas photo that made me lol. Laugh out loud. The parents are smiling like professional models, but the kids, they were mid meltdown. One was crying, one was running away, and the dog was eating fake snow off the ground and. And the caption read, we tried.
[00:00:30] Honestly, that might make the most relatable Christmas card I've ever seen. Because we live in a culture that celebrates perfection, especially during the holidays. The perfect house, the perfect meal, the perfect family photo.
[00:00:40] But let's be honest, perfection is exhausting. It drains your peace faster than your phone battery on 2%. And Paul understood that pressure. In Philippians 4, 8, 9, he says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever's admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy. Think about these things and what you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me. Put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you.
[00:01:11] Paul's talking to people that lived in a world that was obsessed with image and achievement and honor. A lot like ours. Their city, Philippi, was filled with retired Roman soldiers who prided themselves on order and status and success. Yet Paul flips their value system upside down. He says, stop obsessing over what looks perfect and start focusing on what's true. Peace doesn't come from chasing an image. It comes from anchoring your attention in what's real and good and beautiful. When Paul says, think on these things, it literally means to dwell on them, to calculate, or to let something shape your mindset. What he's saying is what you rehearse in your mind will eventually rule your heart, that if you dwell on chaos, you'll feel chaos. If you fixate on comparison, you'll live discontented. But if you focus on what's lovely and praiseworthy, if you fill your thoughts with reminders of God's presence, your emotions start to follow that focus. And so it's not perfection that brings peace, it's presence.
[00:02:11] Peace begins when we stop chasing what's missing and we start noticing who's there. And here's what's amazing about this. Paul doesn't end by saying, and you'll finally feel peaceful. He says, the God of peace will be with you. That peace isn't just a feeling, is a person. And that person is already near. Now, if we're honest, it's easy for us to miss him. I mean, we get so caught up trying to make everything look right that we forget to actually be in it. To enjoy the people right in front of us, the moments that are already good enough. We scroll through other people's highlight reels. When we replay our own failures, we fill our calendars to the edge. And then we wonder why our souls are running on fumes.
[00:02:53] Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to slow down and just be present.
[00:03:00] Presence isn't about doing less. It's about noticing more. So here's some practical ways to practice presence this December. Number one, be present at home. Put down the phone. Look your people in the eyes. Be with them, not just around them. Now, it doesn't have to be a perfect family dinner. Sometimes it's just sitting on a couch with Coco and letting the conversation wander.
[00:03:20] Connection doesn't need a plan. It just needs attention. Number two, Be present at work. Now. Instead of racing through your to do list, take a moment to remember why you do what you do. Ask God to help you serve people, not pressure. Purpose always brings more peace than productivity. Number three, Be present in your faith. Turn your quiet time from a task into a relationship. Don't rush through prayer like it's another box to check. Sit with God. Listen. Talk to him like he's there because, well, he is.
[00:03:50] Number four, be present in your thoughts.
[00:03:53] When anxiety hits, pause and ask, is this true? Is this helpful? Is this worth dwelling on? Because most of the time, what we're worrying about isn't even real. It's just rehearsed. So redirect your focus towards what is good and life giving. And finally, number five, be present in your schedule. Don't overspend. Don't over commit. Trying to make Christmas magical.
[00:04:14] Just simple. Simple because that's sacred leaves space for wonder. A quiet drive to look at the lights, a slow morning and unhurried conversation.
[00:04:24] When you choose presence over perfection, you make space for God's peace to move in. You don't have to fake calm or manufacture joy. You just have to show up, Heart open, phone down, soul attentive. Peace grows in the soil of gratitude and not performance. Now here's the. Here's where this gets tricky. The more you let go of perfection, the more you experience the presence of the One who is perfect and he perfectly loves you. So maybe this year, instead of trying to get the photo just right, let's just smile at the chaos. But let's thank God for the life that's still in process. For the kids that can't sit still, for the plans that didn't go perfectly. But somehow it worked out anyway. Peace doesn't hide in those flawless moments. It lives in the faithful ones. In a laughter that's genuine and. And grace that's given and stillness that's chosen. So take a breath, wherever you are, in your car, your kitchen, your office, and remember this. The God of Peace, he's with you. You don't have to chase him. He's already near. Have a great day. We'll see you back here for tomorrow.
