Digging Deeper: Peace with One Another

If we’re being honest, this verse can be uncomfortable. Living at peace with all people seems great on paper, but it is much more difficult in practice. Living at peace with all people includes those who hurt you, those who gossip about you, and those who do not own their part of the problem. How can we do this when it seems impossible?

Paul knew this tension. That is why he adds the phrase “so far as it depends on you.” It is a gentle reminder that peace does not always mean agreement. It does not mean pretending that things are fine when they are not. It does not mean everyone will respond the way we want them to. It does mean that we have to take responsibility for our part. Do not wait for someone else to fix the relationship. Ultimately, we pursue peace with others because God first pursued peace with us.

Paul is truly calling us to ownership, not control. We cannot control how someone else will respond, but we can control our effort, our tone, our attitude, and our willingness to forgive.

There is a difference between being a peacekeeper and a peacemaker. Peacekeepers avoid conflict to keep everyone happy. Peacemakers address conflict to bring healing.

Jesus has called us to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). That means we step toward tension, not away from it. We do not bury problems under fake smiles or “I’m good” answers. We bring truth and grace to the table because real peace cannot exist where honesty is absent.

Sometimes that means apologizing first. Other times it means confronting others in love. Either way, the goal is not to win the argument but to win the relationship back.

Again, peace sounds simple, but it often costs us something. Whether it is our pride, our comfort, or our desire to get even, peace comes with a cost. But the benefit far outweighs the cost. How many hard conversations have you held back from in life that continually played over and over again in your mind? Did the avoidance of that conversation add peace or rob you of peace? It robbed you. Then, when you finally had the conversation, did it add peace or rob you of peace? It added peace.

Here is the beauty of the peace that God offers us with others. As believers our peace does not depend on the perfection of others. Consider how Jesus offered us peace. He did not wait for us to come to Him; He came to us. When humanity was running from God, Jesus entered the conflict to make a way for us. Even Jesus paid a cost to offer peace. He took on the cross to extend peace so we could be reconciled to God. If Jesus was willing to pursue peace with those who betrayed Him, denied Him, and crucified Him (this is us), then surely we can take a step toward peace in our own relationships.

Today, if there is somebody you have been avoiding (a friend, sibling, teammate, coworker), take a step toward them. You cannot change the past, but you can change your posture toward them going forward. Let us be people who live this verse out and do everything within our control to live at peace with all people. Let us be people who pray for peace to be present on our teams, in our families, and with the neighbors around us.