Mission Venture Ministries

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. (Romans 12:16-18) 

Paul is not insisting that we all think alike or agree on every issue, which isn’t going to happen in this life. Rather, he is calling us to unity based on our common salvation, our shared purpose in the gospel, and our shared hope in Christ. His command does not suggest that we set aside essential doctrinal truth for the sake of unity, which would be to compromise the gospel. Rather, as in Ephesians 4:2-3, he is saying, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” 

To live in harmony with each other, requires humility from everyone involved. It’s not surprising, then, that Paul’s next instruction is that we not be arrogant and stuck up to enjoy the company of ordinary people. He makes clear what he means with a follow-up command; associate with the lowly. In other words, don’t think of yourselves as being too good to hang out socially with anyone else. Paul is probably referring to people who may be beneath your economic or educational level and that we should reach out in love and make them feel accepted. This means to put yourself on the same level and relate graciously to them as you would want to be related to if you were in their situation. 

Paul’s continues by saying and don’t think you know it all! A Christian must never be wise in their own sight. The idea being that we should not accept our own opinion as the final word. We need to submit to the word of God, as well as to the input and ideas of other godly Christians. 

Then, he gives a difficult command never pay back evil with more evil. Paul declares that we must resist our natural human instinct for revenge and refuse to ever pay back evil when evil is done to us. This would be true whether the person who hurts us is a believer or not. Instead, Paul tells us to be thoughtful when wrongdoing is done to us. He seems to suggest that we see that moment as an opportunity to demonstrate that, in Christ, we are honorable people. We cannot, after all, display the love and forgiveness of Christ until we have the opportunity to forgive. And when we do this, we make a powerful statement that we are choosing to live in service to God instead of to ourselves. 

Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Here Paul means that we should think about our testimony to who are watching our actions and conduct. 

What will their thoughts be of the Christian faith when they see or hear about how we responded to the wrong that was done to us? If we react with rage, we’re not being a good witness. However, if we stop to think about our witness, we can then respond in a Christ like manner. 

Scripture calls us to encourage, help, and get along with others, but most of us know at least one person with whom we have more conflict than comfort. Discord can take many forms; personalities may not mesh; different belief systems can lead to arguments; and words or actions might be misunderstood. But through the Lord, almost any difference can be overcome. 

Therefore, do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. So what does it require to live this way? First and foremost, it means we should be kind towards other people. We must be willing to admit our wrongs, to apologize, to make things right, and to forgive. Our own ego, pride, desires, and prejudices should never get in the way of living peaceably with others. 

The Bible is clear, that we must take our stand with grace, mercy, and integrity knowing that God can be trusted to keep His promise (Hebrews 10:23). When making “peace” however, we should never compromise the truth, for “we must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). 

Living in submission to Jesus creates a channel by which His goodness and grace can flow through us and create harmony. Consequently, when we make a habit of lifting up the other person in prayer, divine grace becomes part of the situation. 

God desires that believers live in peace, but He knows we can’t achieve this on our own. That’s why He gave us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, through whom we can attain unity and be bound together in peace (Ephesians 4:1-6). 

Remember that only with the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts are we able to live at peace with other people (Colossians 3:15). And since peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22; Romans 8:6), we must depend on the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts to become successful peacemakers in this world. 

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