Tuesday 3 September 2019

Do you live at Peace?

Do you Live at Peace?
The apostle Paul writes,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, 
live at peace with everyone.”  
                                                     Romans 12:18
        The Writer of Hebrews stating
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men 
and to be holy; 
without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 
                                                        Hebrews 12:14
Sometimes I think that those calling themselves Christians here in North America don’t listen to the scriptures quoted above. They don’t live in peace. Sadly quite often they break the peace. They don’t break any law. They don’t call for insurrection. But they do break the peace usually in the name of free speech or in the assertion they are exercising “their rights”.
In a free and democratic society such as we North American Christians live, the government gives us freedom of speech and fundamental rights that are the envy of much of the world. Yet many Christians abuse those rights.
In North America many Christians are known for what they are against, not for what they are for.
Christians it seems demonstrates against anything they disagree with, which in my opinion is wrong.
Jesus and his disciples lived in a world that was at least as multi-culturally diverse as the one we live in. There were everything from the temple prostitute priestesses of Corinth, to fights to the death in the coliseums. There were religious practices that would have been abhorrent to the disciples and Jesus. Yet neither Jesus or his disciples spoke out against them.
Jesus and his disciples associated with everyone from prostitutes, to Roman centurions, soldiers, to Samaritans, to Jewish religious leaders, tax collectors and the average man and woman on the street. They made no distinction between one person or another.
This is how they won people to the fledgling church.
They understood that living at peace with everyone, even if they disagreed with them, was the best way to win souls for Christ.
If you claim to be a Christian a follower of Christ Jesus do you do your best to live at peace with everyone?
Please think about it.

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