Two people hugging each other tightly

 

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At peace

14 September 2018
‘If…possible…live at peace with everyone.’

‘Live at peace with everyone’ is overwhelmingly general when it’s taken out of context. However, Paul gives us a lot more advice on how to live that instruction out if we go back to Romans 12. He writes: ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord’ (Romans 12:17-19 NIV). What Paul is encouraging us to do is to take responsibility for our own actions. We can think of peaceful living as an idyllic world where everyone is happy and loving towards each other, but Paul makes it less about the world being lovely in general, and more about our responses. He seems to define living ‘at peace’ as having everything to do with how we respond to actions committed against us. That leads to a really interesting possibility. We can choose to live at peace with those who make life difficult for us, whether they regret their actions or not. That is how peace depends on us, and also how we can avoid the mentality that someone else’s wrongdoing can excuse our own if we’re putting them to rights. Romans 12 shows us that we are called to live to godly standards even when those around us don’t. We’re told ‘not be overcome by evil, but [to] overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12:21 NIV). And that is the key to spreading peace. Even when we’re faced with wrong, we can still forgive and live right.

 

What Now?

Think of the last person who annoyed you. Pray that God will bless them.

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