Romans 12:18: If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
I love this because there are people that you just cannot get along with; they won’t let you get along with them. A dear lady who lived alone, a wonderful Christian, called me one day in deep concern because she had a neighbor whom she couldn’t get along with, and she wondered if I would come and talk with the neighbor. As I was driving out there, I was thinking that since this lady had been living alone, although she was a Christian, she might be a little difficult herself. So I went out and talked to her neighbor. Well, the neighbor told me what she thought of me as well as this dear lady. I went back to this wonderful Christian and said, “I don’t think you need to worry anymore if you can’t get along with her. Nobody can get along with that woman. The Bible says ‘as much as depends upon you’; it doesn’t say you have to get along with her. Just do the best you can.” 1
Application
- Self control is a “fruit of the spirit.” The Spirit wants to control you, but the Spirit has never asked you to control someone else. Quit trying to control others. Quit trying to manipulate the response that you want from another.
- Be released. Let God be in control. All He is asking us to do, is to live peaceably. You are not responsible for their reaction or over-reaction. They have to own it.
Prayer
Lord, make me a peaceable person, not an argumentative person.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Romans 9-16) (electronic ed., Vol. 43). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.