- If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12:18 – Live at peace with everyone in your life. If that was the fullness of this command then we’d all be living in opposition to this command of scripture. For even if we stayed in that position of always seeking to live at peace with everyone, we have no control how the people around us are going to behave towards us and if they deem we are at peace with them. Thankfully the command of scripture isn’t as straightforward as we must be at peace with everyone. Certainly our aim ought to seek out reconciliation wherever that is needed and to give apologies whenever that is needed. As far as it is up to us on our end of the relationship we are commanded to seek peace with all, and that is where the “so far as it depends on you” comes into help us remain faithful. You can’t control if people will accept your apologies and you can’t make someone reconcile if they refuse to do so. Meaning there may be situations where we are not going to live at peace with people because the other person is refusing peace. In that situation, God calls us to do everything on our part to be at peace with them, and if they refuse our efforts that’s not on us but them. So yes, thankfully we have that “out” of having to be at peace with everyone since we can’t control their responses…but we must remember we are still called to pursue peace with all as far as our efforts can take us. That means we must say the apology even when we don’t want to and that means we must have that difficult conversation even if we’ve strategically avoided it for years. If the reason we are in tension and brokenness with someone is because of our refusal to pursue peace with them, know that sin is on us and a change needs to take place. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3435
- Let love be genuine. Romans 12:9a – Authentic, real, undisputed, unadulterated, true. These are just a few of the words that describe “genuine” and as a result describe our love. Our mission is to love God and love people so grasping what love should look like and living that out is more than just important. We need to be checking the way we love and the way we express that love to make sure it’s genuine. Is it real or are we just playing pretend? Do we say we love someone but they question if we really do because of the way we talk and live. Is our love tainted with things like selfishness or greed? Is it genuine? Study the sort of love Jesus had and expressed for the prime example of what our love should look like. If our love we show wouldn’t be a type of love Jesus would have shown, we shouldn’t show it either. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1060
- I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 – Take a moment to reread this chapter, for if as believers we took hold of even just what was held within these 21 verses, our witness would skyrocket. God is calling us to lives holy before Him, set apart from the ways of the world, sacrificing the old ways of our life to live in a new, acceptable ways before Him. What does that look like? What does this chapter say it looks like? Using our God-given gifts for one another and Him. To genuinely love another. To deeply show honor to each other. Constantly be in prayer and patient on the Lord in times of trouble. Give to those who need it and welcome those who need it. Even to those who come against you, choose to bless them. Choose to live at peace with everyone. Brothers and sisters, can you see how powerful such a witness would be even to those who curse the name of Jesus? Examine then the current witness your life is giving compared to the ways scripture is calling believers to live within this lost world. Let the love of Christ transform your life into something new. While evil is seeking to overcome even those who follow Jesus, reject it with good and live a life of holiness that is not only pleasing to our Savior, but opens the eyes of those who currently don’t follow Jesus to His goodness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2421
Daily DEVO 