Living at Peace
Scripture Reading — Romans 12:9-21
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18
The Society of International Law in London recently reported a startling statistic: the world has been at peace for less than 8 percent of its history. The study stated that in the past 3,530 years, there have been only 286 years of peace. Over the same time period, more than 8,000 peace treaties have been made—and broken.
Another quality of the spiritual fruit of love is “peace” (Galatians 5:22). In the midst of a world where conflict and disagreements are common, the Holy Spirit wants to develop peace in us. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, urged us to express that quality by working hard to “live at peace with everyone.”
The most important peace we can know is peace with God, our Creator and Savior.
The Bible makes clear that when we have faith in God’s Son, Jesus, we are welcomed into God’s family (Ephesians 2:19), we become God’s children (John 1:12), and we have peace with God now and forever (Romans 5:1-2). And once we have experienced peace with God, we need to extend that peace to others.
Living at peace with others doesn’t simply mean avoiding issues or grievances that you might have with someone else. Rather, genuine peace is experienced when someone begins working toward genuine reconciliation and resolution wherever there is hurt.
Lord God, thank you for the peace we can experience in you. May your Holy Spirit develop peace in us so that we may also live at peace with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About the author — Shawn Brix
Rev. Shawn Brix has served as pastor in several Ontario churches. He and his wife, Jenny, have three children.
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