Keeping The Peace

 ROMANS 14

Men and women in today’s world are increasingly inclined to let a difference of opinion escalate into arguments. Just look at the evening news, or if you’re not from the "stone age" of watching the news, take a look at X (Twitter) or Instagram.

Thankfully, God’s Word provides much-needed insight on how to handle preference issues while preserving the peace and unity He has called us to enjoy and thrive in.

Paul outlines why Christians need to maintain peace in matters of preference:

God is long-suffering. Rom 14:1-3

God is patient with believers, and we must emulate Him. This doesn’t mean we have to change our views on a preference issue, but it does mean we should adjust our attitude toward those who differ, so that we can disagree with grace and kindness.

 Jesus is Ruler. Rom 14:4-9

Paul emphasizes that Jesus is the Lord, and we are His servants. This serves as a rebuke to any Christian who believes it is their duty to organize everyone in the church according to their own preferences. Believers are accountable to Christ on preference issues, not to other people.

God is the Evaluator. Rom 14:10-13

Paul distinguishes between the legitimate authority that Jesus has given the church to judge sin and false doctrine and the inappropriate meddling in others' personal preferences

Love should be pre-eminent. Rom 14:14-15

When strong but non-sinful opinions arise in the church, we should relax and let love cover the differences. We are called to love our brothers and sisters above all.

 Give Peace precedence over preference issues. Rom 14:19-21

We should recognize the schemes of the evil one, who tempts us to let disagreements evolve into arguments, leading to broken fellowship and disunity.

My prayer is that, through studying this text, we will make significant progress in the pursuit of peace regarding preference issues with our fellow followers of Christ.