Is peace possible?

Scripture Read: Romans 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Application: Jesus warned us that if we live for and like Him we would be hated, yet so many scriptures like this one call us to be people of peace. How does this work? The key word here is “possible” because that determines if this could be a reality. Consider …

Possible = δυνατός dunatós; from dúnamai  - to be able. Able, strong, powerful. With the conditional conj. ei, if, used in an absolute sense or with ésti, the 3d person. sing. of eimí, to be, meaning, if possible (ei dunatón), if it be possible ^[1]

The root word here is where we get Dynamite from. This is a great reminder Lord of what we need to be. If there is any power on our part to be at peace with men – we are to pursue it. That means if there is not peace – it should be because the other person will not allow it! If we apply this literally it is going to cost us.  That request for forgiveness we don’t feel like giving or that response we feel they deserve but for the sake of peace, we hold our tongue. That right we have but for peace we don’t claim it. Painful, yet in the end the real peace we have is with You – so what do we care about men? This is where we want our peace – between us and You! Lord help us to pursue peace. We will and must speak Truth – but we can have the power – from You – to be a person of peace. Teach us the balance here Lord – for we do want to confront when we need to and we want to stand for what You desire us to stand for. Only You can teach us the balance.

* Meditation Questions: Does the word impossible occupy a lot of your thoughts? Is there a difference between truth offending and the WAY we share that truth? What steps do you go through to try and assure peace? Is compromise bad?

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Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.