Trust That God Is in Control.Muestra

Living at Peace

By Mark Hayes

Books written by psychologists and behaviorists share some common advice:

• You can’t control what other people do and say in each situation, but you can control what you do and speak.
• You can’t always control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond.

That is wise advice and not always easy to follow. We quickly fall into the traps of anger, selfishness, and a victim mentality. It takes a lot of restraint and courage to be kind to others who are not kind to us. God’s own version of the advice of psychologists goes like this…

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)

God is saying our hope for peace on earth, at least in day-to-day life, starts with us. This verse is part of how God asks us to treat each other. The first verse of Romans 12 says, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices,” but it also says to do so “in view of God’s mercy.”

When you made a sacrifice to God in the Old Testament, you gave one of your own livestock, your own source of food and income, back to God, who gave it to you. This implied that you trusted God to provide for you. When we give up ourselves by selflessly setting aside our wants to accommodate others, we are trusting in God to provide us with the patience, kindness, and humility to do so.

Our forgiveness and, ultimately, our life with God in heaven depends on God’s mercy. God gave up his son to make us members of his family. When we mentally replay our past mistakes and vividly see our own brokenness and realize that it is all forgiven by God, we have a clear view of God’s mercy. Jesus’ sacrifice of himself to save our lives enables our daily internal and emotional sacrifices to maintain peace with those around us. Your eternal peace depends on God. As far as it depends on you in this life, share peace with others by how you treat them.

Prayer: Dear Savior, “peace on earth” seems like such an impossible goal. Even peace at home or at work is an incredible challenge. You accomplished ultimate peace on earth by giving your own life to repair our relationship with you. We ask you to show us a clear view of your mercy and powerful love in our lives to move us to accept the challenge to do our part to live at peace with those around us. Forgive us for our selfish motives and plant in us the desire and effort to honor you with our lives. Amen.