Living Peaceably In a World of Trouble

Romans 12:18 ESV
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

I understand we cannot always make peace with everyone. People lash out at us for no apparent reason. People get angry if we pull out in front of them in traffic. People in the office are having a bad day and take it out on us. People, sometimes even friends and family, get on our nerves. It’s a hectic world in which we live.

Sometimes we don’t want to make peace, sometimes we want to treat them as bad as they treat us. We want retribution at times, we want to show them how it feels when someone is rude, angry or unfair. Getting even feels good for a moment, until we settle down and realize we are no better than the person that upset us. We also begin to realize who we represent 24/7, Jesus Christ.

But when Jesus was reviled, Isaiah 53:1-7 (portions) says, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace…He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

If you say to me, “but He is God, He can take it.” I will tell you, He was fully God, but fully man as well. He hurt like we hurt, He was sad many times, He was lied about, falsely accused, told He was the chief of demons, shouted at, beaten, bruised, and nailed to a cross. He was loved at one moment and hated the next by the same people. His closest friends abandoned Him.

Yes, He made peace as much as He could while on this earth, but still got across a message that has saved millions of lives for thousands of years.

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Prayer: Lord, live through me. Be in my words and actions and my reactions. Teach me to love the unlovable. Teach me to shut my mouth when I want to revile those who hurt me. In Your name Lord Jesus I ask, Amen!