Originally published by The Round Farmhouse Ministries on December 18, 2025.
This post was written for Advent, but since my word for 2025 was peace and many upcoming posts will share what I learned about peace last year, I’m sharing this post today as a springboard of things to come.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27, ESV)
My word for 2025 is “peace”. . . mostly because I didn’t feel any sense of peace at the beginning of the year. But I was searching for it, longing for it, waiting for it. As I often do, I made an index card with Bible verses to keep in my journal. Here are the verses I’ve been living in this year:
“You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.” (Isaiah 26:3, ESV)
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:19, ESV)
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27, ESV)
Notice two words from these verses: heart and mind. Peace comes from a heart and mind that seek God, trust in God, and rely on God.
Sometimes I feel like I’m in a daily battle for peace, and in some ways I am. Scripture never tells us that trusting in God eliminates our difficulties. We’re not exempt from daily opposition, but we are protected. As Jesus prayed before the crucifixion, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15, ESV). Jesus says we will have peace despite those difficulties: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, ESV). Did you catch where peace comes from? Jesus. That’s why he’s called the Prince of Peace.
If you believe in Christ, you already have peace. That’s right, we’re given peace as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The question is, how do we tap into that peace daily? Because I’m certainly not a source of peace on my own. As Philippians 4:6 describes, we pray, we give thanks, we share our struggles with God. And guess what happens? I love this part!! “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV).
There they are again – our hearts and minds. But don’t miss the fact that peace that comes from God surpasses all our understanding. The only way to explain true peace is to believe that God has more for us than we’ll ever know.
