Have you ever been in a situation where you do struggle about getting along with certain people? Yes, that is the real world for you. No matter how hard you do try to get along with them, things just keeps getting more difficult in having a healthy relationship with them that glorifies God.
But in your heart you truly want to do the right thing by staying in the love of God with them. The harder you try to do the right thing, it just keeps getting worse.
This is a Christian Duty
Well, we are called of God to live at peace with all men. This is the bottom line about it all. And no matter how you may look at the situation in which you are with them, Jesus expects you to stay in His love with them.
The scriptures says:
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
Romans 12:17-18 NKJV
Paul knew how tough this may be sometimes. That’s why he said; …”if it is possible, as much as depends on you”, to live at peace with all men. There are people with whom it may be difficult to get along with. But we still have a duty to keep ourselves in the love of God, in our relationships with them.
This is a nobler and higher call that we all have in Christ Jesus. I had personally been in such situation many times, but in spite of it all I have also learnt to move on in the love of God, while keeping the relationship with them intact. Do you know we will all have to answer before God for how we treat fellow believers and non believers?
There is absolutely nothing you can do to change the will or decisions of people about you. People will always have there own opinions about you. You can only change your own attitude and responses to them in the love of God.
In doing this you’ve got to know, who you are in Christ Jesus; not based on their opinions about you. Your attitude and responses to them, should neither be based on your feelings. But it has to be based on what His covenant word to you says concerning you in loving them.
If we all have to live in this world based on how we feel about others, and our situations with them; we all would have gone back living like the unbelievers. So stop paying attention to those feelings.
Our relationship with people ought to be based on faith, and not on feelings. Those feelings can be deceptive, and we’ve got to be very careful with them. Feelings do change always, but faith will never change. And that is the most important key to keeping ourselves at peace with all men.
We do not ever allow people’s views or attitude to guide our lives as the children of God. We are responsible before God for how we are living our lives, and not those other people.
We are never called by Christ to please people. We are called to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Watch your ways with others
The scripture says again:
“When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Proverbs 16:7 NKJV
A man pleases God by doing the faith walk. The peace of God saturates any heart that is walking by faith before Him. By pleasing God we receive His peace (Shalom), to guide our hearts in the wisdom of God, with regards to our relationship with others.
And it is none of our business to worry about people’s opinions, because worrying is a sin before God also. Worrying is unbelief, and it feeds on doubts so as to kill faith in the heart of any believer.
Pray for them
That’s why we’ve got to be very careful, not to allow what others do against us to hold back from the blessing of God. It is our responsibility to pray for them, love them, and move on in the love of God.
The most effective way to pray in a situation like this is in the Holy Ghost; because He knows what you do not know about the situation. And He will help you in praying for difficult people more effectively than in your own understanding or natural language.
The Holy Spirit is the One who convicts people about their behavior (see John 16:7-9). We cannot do this. And the most dangerous sin, is the sin against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32).
So if after praying in the Holy Spirit, He is leading you to do anything about the situation. Just do it, even if it is hard for you to do. Your act of obedience then becomes the key into the blessing of God.
Most especially we must be very careful with difficult people, whose relationship with us may affect our walk with God. Sometimes we must just let them go away (especially the unbelievers). Letting them go as we pray in the Spirit for them, will allow us to move on into the greater things of God for our lives. We must always be at peace in such situations, and never give place to the enemy (Ephesians 4:27).
The unsaved world does not understand what it means to be at peace with all men. Of course they do not understand why you are even trying to be at peace with them also. But the onus is on us to be at peace with them anyway.
Be good to them also
Paul went further in challenging us not only to live at peace with all men; but to do good also to all men, especially to fellow believers in Christ.
But do you know that it is possible to live at peace with people, without necessarily doing them any good at all? Yes, this is very common mistake with believers in Christ. When we do try to be at peace with people by just trying to avoid them, it is very dangerous to our spiritual health. When we do this we are giving the enemy an opportunity to accuse us of not doing good to them.
Paul told the Galatians:
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
Galatians 6:10 NKJV
What kind of opportunity does doing good to all bring to us? It does gives us access continually into, THE BLESSING OF THE LORD!
There is nothing as powerful as the blessing of God working in the life of a born again, Holy Spirit filled child of God. Doing good to all men, keeps that flow of the blessing of God constant in our lives. When we stop doing good, we stop the blessing flow also.
For example, it is possible to live at peace with your next door neighbor. But at the same time you may not be doing that neighbor any good at all, if you do see the same neighbor in a difficult situation, that you do know you can be of help in alleviating his suffering. On the contrary you decide not to do anything, just because you do not want to get into other people’s business. Do you know that when you do this, you are actually cutting short your flow of God’s blessing?
When you shut your eyes to them like the Pharisee and the Levite did to the Good Samaritan, you are apparently blocking the flow of the blessing into your own life also (see Luke 10:25-37). The blessing of God flows where His mercy is present. When you show mercy to others, you are enlarging your blessing territory.
The Bible says:
““This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”
Zechariah 7:9 NIV
It is the love of God and His mercy, that works through us, which gives us peace; and manifests the goodness of God as we live by faith in God. It takes a man of faith to live at peace with all men, and do good to all men at the same time.
The Good Samaritan in the parable of Jesus acted by faith in helping the man who was attacked by robbers. That Good Samaritan never listened to his feelings. He must have felt like the others before him towards this man. But he just did the right thing based on the commandment of God. He sowed his time, money and other resources into the life of a total stranger. It takes faith to show kindness to people; especially to people that you do not know.
It is the blessing of God in our lives that makes all of that possible. If God has not been good to you, you cannot show His goodness to others.
But without the wisdom of God, we will never be able to tap into the blessing of God itself. Blessing is multiplied in us through the peace and goodness of God, working through our lives to touch others.
Peace and the goodness of God in our lives is a manifestation of God’s blessing.
We may be able to tell the whole world that we do love them. But that love often gets tested, in those moments when we do have the opportunity to show goodness to a stranger, but we do see ourselves holding back from it because of our feelings.
Forgiveness – Our Key to living at peace with all
The key to living at peace with all men, is therefore in our ability to live in forgiveness with others. If we can not live in forgiveness with anyone, then we cannot love that person whom we are not able to forgive. And the result will be that, we will never be at peace with God also, and with that person due to our lack of forgiveness.
When we are always quick to forgive others, our peace will remain intact and the flow of God’s blessing into our lives as His children will be constant.
Isaiah wrote:
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
A heart that lives by faith before God is stayed and focused on Jesus. That heart will be at peace with God and with all men.
There are many Christians who are struggling today to live in forgiveness with fellow Christians. Homes are being broken daily due to the lack of forgiveness. Congregations are being divided, because they have allowed the enemy’s seed of unforgiveness to multiply among them. The enemy is tearing believers apart, and against one another, because of their lack of forgiveness for one another.
Forgive as you Pray
A believer with an unforgiving heart cannot pray. Jesus said:
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25-26 NKJV
Jesus made this statement immediately after teaching His disciples about faith. Apparently we can never be effective in prayer, if we are not constantly living in forgiveness with others. And it takes faith to be able to forgive those who have hurt us.
Jesus went even further when He said again:
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”
Matthew 5:44 NKJV
If we practice this everyday as we pray for others, something supernatural will begin to happen in our lives as believers in Christ. God will give us that supernatural ability to live in forgiveness, and to be at peace with others.
Are you struggling today to forgive someone? Try praying and blessing that person daily. That kind of prayer will allow the love and the goodness of God to saturate your soul. It will then be easier to forgive that fellow brother or sister in Christ, as you continue in the love of God towards them. Husbands and wives can apply this same principle from Jesus in living at peace with one another at home.
Faith and Love
Remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. In the same way without faith it is impossible to forgive and love your enemies.
Paul wrote to the Galatians:
“For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.”
GALATIANS 5:6 AMP
Our faith to forgive and love others is activated and ready to be expressed, the moment we make the strong decision to forgive. Forgiveness opens our hearts to love difficult people, and not stop the flow of God’s blessing into our lives. And if the seed of Christ is in you, you can do it.
The way of Jesus is the way of love. His faith works by love through us. Faith will never work in a heart that is unforgiving. You have to let the anger and bitterness towards others go away. Those are the seeds of Satan that are designed to destroy you.
As we prepare to go into the Lenten Season for this year, begin to prepare yourself to seek God in Spirit and in Truth; living at peace with all men. Do not allow anything or anyone to stop your blessing flow:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
You can do it. Rejoice in your abundant blessing.
Thank you for sharing more light to this topic. I was just struggling to avoid people so that I will not have problem with them. But am blessed with this teaching God bless you.
Thank you so much. I’m so blessed. More grace to you in the name of Jesus