SCRIPTURE
Romans 12:9-21
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
MAIN IDEA
The path to peace is often a path of personal sacrifice.
GOING DEEPER
Questions from this weeks message.
- What insight, principle or observation from this week’s message did you find to be most helpful, eye opening or troubling? Please explain.
- Describe an extremely difficult and stressful time of your life that was the result of disunity and conflict? Why is conflict so unsettling?
- Read Romans 12:18. What relationships right now are most difficult to live in peace? As you think of conflict situations, is it easy for you to brush them off, thinking you have done everything you can? If so, why, if not, why not?
- What are some of your “ya, but…” statements, when it comes to living in peace with others?
- Read Romans 12:9-21. What about Verse 10 is crucial to being a person of peace? If you honoured people more (especially those you are prone to have conflict with), do you think it would bring more peace? What about this command is really difficult for you?
- Read Romans 12:19-20. Have you ever repaid evil with good? How did it turn out? What makes this so hard for us?
- Alvin mentioned that, the path to peace is often a path of personal sacrifice, how have you experienced this?
- In what relationships do you feel you need to especially focus on ‘honouring’ right now? In what relationship do you need to repay evil with good? What will you do?
SUMMARY POINTS
Everything God hates is actually driven by His love for us.
Conflict with those closest to us is most unsettling.
So how do we live in unity?
Paul, wrote in Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
The path to peace is often a path of personal sacrifice.
The first way to live in peace is…
- Honour Others
- Repay Evil with Good
The path to peace is often a path of personal sacrifice.
CALL TO ACTION
The path to peace is often a path of personal sacrifice.
If there is conflict and disunity in your life and relationships, God takes that seriously, and so should we. He hates it when we are the instigators, he desires us to be people of peace, because he loves you. Will you take the path, even if it will cost you…you?
If that is a path you are wanting to take, the first step that direction is to confess your sin of not living that way, and then commit to following God in being a person of peace. That may mean a lot of hard, sacrificial work in the week and weeks to come as you honor others and repay evil with good. But to start, it is confess and commit.
