The NIV 365 Day Devotional

Do Not Be Anxious About Anything

Paul supports his exhortations to thankful prayer and thinking on godly things with promises of protection from anxiety by the peace of God (v. 7) and the presence of the God of peace (v. 9).

The Philippians’ suffering at the hands of local opponents, whatever form it took, as well as their concerns over the woes of Paul and Epaphroditus, gave them reason to worry. But, as Jesus assures us, such troubles are never outside the control of the sovereign God, who is our loving Father (Mt 6:25–34). The antidote to anxiety is prayer, presenting to God our requests regarding every sort of concern while genuinely thanking him for his constant, generous provision (Col 3:15–17).

Rehearsing God’s lavish grace and expressing our confident dependence on him are means by which his peace—peace that finds no explanation in our circumstances—surrounds our fragile hearts and minds in divine protective custody. The God of peace also assures us of his presence as we focus our thoughts on virtues that reflect his beautiful holiness.

Paul’s list of virtues resembles those commended in the moral literature of the Greco-Roman world. God’s common grace sustains a sense of what is true, good, and lovely even among those who do not know him. But Paul puts these qualities in a Christ-centered context by reminding his friends of the gospel they learned and received from Paul and his team, and of the Christ-shaped service they saw in those gospel heralds. Ultimately, purity and peace are defined by the mind of Christ.

Taken from the NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible.