Better at Building Relationships
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18 (NIV)
We can do relationships better. In Romans 12, Paul is teaching that you might be, in some of your relationships, the only witness for Christ. Or if not the only witness, you might be the strongest witness, which means if the person you are engaged in a relationship with is ever going to get a right and clear picture of Christ, it’s going to be contingent upon what they observe in their relationship with you.
Paul is simply teaching that the people you are in relationships with might shape their desires differently regarding Christ if they witness your life responding to the leading of the Spirit. That means your witness matters.
This is why he puts the pressure on you to spark the conversation. It’s why you have to make the reservations and initiate the considerations. It’s why you have to be the first to reach out. It’s why, even if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have to offer the first apology. It’s why you have to arrange the agenda and navigate the terrain. It’s why you have to make all the decisions. And yes, it’s tiring, and I know it’s fatiguing, but God knows what He put in you, and He knows it works. You just need to be faithful.
You can shift your language from “God, this isn’t fair” and “Why is it always me?” to “God, what a blessing that you trust me to carry this kind of weight. Thank you that you’ve settled your Spirit in me like this, that I’m going to at least fight to react in obedience.”
In many people’s lives, you are perhaps the only person who brings Jesus into the conversation. And that’s why God depends on you. Because when they watch your reaction, when they listen to your commentary, when they see how you respond to things that are happening in your life and how you are staying together with so much chaos swirling around you, it provides lenses for them into what it means to live in perfect peace. When your mind is steadied on Jesus, being a witness becomes more important than anything else.
