Today's Devotion

Peaceful Living

Do all that you can to live in peace
with everyone.~Romans 12:18, NLT

Hey all sorry this is arriving so late in the day, another busy but
great day!!

Wow this verse seems like kind of a tall order doesn't it? It does to me, doing
everything I can to live in peace with loved ones is sometimes pretty hard to do
but with everyone...that almost seems impossible. I do strive to be a person who
is accepting, nonconfrontational, and loving but unfortunately I'm also one who
doesn't like to back down from an argument which seems to conflict with the
whole Peaceful Living idea!:) I read this verse first thing this morning and
have spent much of the day reflecting on it, and came to the resolution that yes
life would be much easier, less stressful and enjoyable if I let go of an
argument and really do all that I can do to live in peace with everyone. Now I
don't think that this means we are a doormat for people to walk all over and to
hurt...notice the first few words "do all that you can do" it doesn't just say
live in peace with everyone. I do think though that in relationships with those
closest to us that it is often hard to really do all that we can do...we often
just want to win!! Earlier this evening while talking to Nathen I could feel
myself almost start one of these winless arguments when I remembered this verse
and decided it was more important to me at that moment to have a peaceful
attitude and you know what by refocusing my "agenda" I could actually hear,
appreciate, and understand Nathen's point of veiw much better. So Peaceful
Living may sound unatainable, and idealistic but it is worth the effort and if
anything else the Bible tells us so....so we should at least
try!

In God's Love,
Sarah