Let us aim for harmony ...

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. -Romans 14:17-19 NLT

Have you ever, for the sake of harmony, let the other person have the last word on an issue? Can you recall a time when you chose righteousness over rightness? Sometimes it is so difficult to let go of something when we know that we are right! Yet the issue that Paul has been speaking to us about in this chapter is just that. You see, the kingdom of God is not about being right. It is about sacrificing our rightness on the altar of love.

I love how the apostle speaks of serving Christ with the right attitude. To do that I think that it requires us to escape from our petty theological boxes and see the bigger picture. God is wooing all of creation to himself and we must not allow minor things like what we eat or where we worship to get in his way. For when we determine to live in harmony we proclaim his love to the world. And in building each other up we give His love legs to run.

I confess Lord that my desire to be right often trumps your desire for me to love. Help me to love like you love.

2 comments:

  1. crownringSunday, March 03, 2013 12:26:00 PM

    Sometimes it is so hard to see that our need to be right can block the path to righteousness. Paul goes on to say in Corinthians that rightness without love accomplishes nothing. People often forget that one really needs to be gentle while telling the truth, especially when you're dealing with deeply wounded souls.

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