Keeping the Peace

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Oct 28, 2015 1986

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18).

There is a well-known expression, “It takes two to tango.” The tango is a Latin-American dance involving two people. If one partner, however, insists on treading on the other’s toes and losing balance, then no matter how well the other one dances, she or he is severely handicapped.

Life is like that. You can do your very best to live at peace with someone but that person may not have the same goal as you. Their agenda is not the same as yours and they insist on making life difficult for you. They will criticise and condemn whatever you do, insisting that their way is best.

My mother and father both had choleric personalities and they clashed continually. For example, we would be driving along the road when Mum would say, “Jock Kinsley lives there”. Dad would reply, “No, he’s shifted to Patea”. Mum would respond, “No, Vernon, he is still there!” Dad would fire back, “I tell you, Caroline, he has moved to Patea!” Mum, refusing to admit she was wrong would loudly insist that he hadn’t moved.

My brother and I, sitting in the back seat, would roll our eyes, thinking, “It doesn’t really matter a fig whether Jock lives here or there.” What really mattered was that there be peace and harmony in our family. We hated this continual bickering.

It takes great grace to maintain a relationship with some people, but we followers of the Lord Jesus should be humble enough not to pour fuel on the fire that someone else has started. We should do what we can to create and maintain peace.

Paul and Barnabas had a serious argument over Barnabas’s nephew, Mark. The time came, however, when Paul admitted that Mark had become a blessing to him and God’s cause.