Live at Peace

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 70, Live at Peace.

Romans 12:18. Listen carefully: "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."

So far as it depends on you. With all.

Let that settle for just a moment. Because this isn't a gentle suggestion for a greeting card — it is a summons. One that arrives today, in this specific day, with that specific person who already came to your mind while I was speaking.

Now notice what God does not say. He doesn't say: "Make peace happen." He doesn't hold you accountable for the outcome. He knows, better than anyone, that peace is a bridge requiring two sides — and you don't control the other side. Some people will refuse your outstretched hand. Some situations will not be resolved in this lifetime. God already knows that. The text itself acknowledges it: "if possible." Those two words are mercy. They say: not every peace will materialize — and that is alright. What He measures is not the result that rests with someone else. What He measures is your faithfulness to what depends on you.

Your half of the bridge.

And there is the real weight of this verse: you have to build your side all the way. To the last plank. No stopping halfway and saying you tried. No pointing at the gap and blaming the other person for it. Your side — complete, honest, all the way to the end.

Because peace is not a condition that shows up when conflict disappears. Peace is labor. It is love in motion. It is someone deciding to move first — even when it isn't their turn, even when they didn't start it, even when they're right. Someone has to move first. And this verse is looking directly at you.

And watch how that labor lives in small things. It isn't only the grand gestures of reconciliation. It's the response you choose when you're irritated — soft, instead of sharp. It's the apology you don't let sit for three days. It's the generous assumption you offer when you could just as easily assume the worst. Peace is harvested from small daily habits — planted before breakfast, in the hallway at work, in the message you reread twice before you send it.

And "with all" — that includes precisely that person. The one you've been avoiding. The one who is hard. The one you'd rather not have to think about right now. "With all" carries no exemptions for your convenience. A Christian who lives peaceably — especially where it costs something — is a gospel the world can actually read. Not words about God: the life of God made visible.

So here is today's call. Concrete. Before breakfast — before you step into the current of your day — pick up your phone and send a message to the person you have been avoiding. One sentence. Just one. Kind, honest, asking for nothing in return. You don't need to resolve everything. You just need to lay the first plank. The bridge begins there.

Build your side. God takes care of the rest.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.