Guard the Throne of Your Heart: Colossians 3:15
“15) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
This verse was churning in my heart and spirit all day yesterday. God was dealing with me all day about the need to let His peace rule my heart. Confession; I often get stressed over trivial stuff or self imposed deadlines. I need peace to take over the throne of my heart.
With all the unrest in the world, we need Jesus Christ as the “Prince of Peace” to sit on the throne of our emotions. (Isaiah 9:6) According to the Bible, peace can rule in our hearts even when everything around us wants to feed anger, stress and anxiety.
Let’s be honest, there is a constant battle for the throne of our emotions. The word “emotions” is a valid synonym for the word “heart” in this verse. Our emotions can work against us if we “let” them. Jesus wants us to “let” peace rule. We have a choice in this matter.
Just as Jesus is the prince of peace, Satan is the prince of these negative emotions. Anger, bitterness, stress, worry and strife lurk in the background every day for a chance to ascend to the throne of our emotions.
Anger and bitterness can do severe damage in mere minutes when they ascend to the throne of our emotions. The spirit of a marriage or the relationship with a son or daughter can be wounded deeply with a sharp or angry tongue like the strike of a sword.
Stress and worry also crave to ascend to the throne of our emotions. But they are far more cunning than anger or bitterness because they can wear the disguise of genuine concern. But make no mistake, the scepter of stress and worry is fear. Arch enemy #1 for the child of God is fear. Beware, for these emotions have the power to destroy both your health and your faith.
The only solution is found in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.” Notice the context is “one body.” Jesus wants peace to reign in the local church. Instead of grumbling and complaining, He wants every member to focus on thanksgiving. This produces an attitude of gratitude.
So, who or what is sitting on the throne of your emotions? Is it the Prince of Peace or the prince of anger, worry, stress, anxiety or fear? Paul admonishes us to “Let the peace of Christ rule in our heart.” We are constantly faced with this decision. Solomon said, “Guard the throne of your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” Ok, that’s my own paraphrase of Proverbs 4:23, but it illustrates well what Paul was saying.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global