{"id":11736,"date":"2021-02-20T00:29:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T00:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=11736"},"modified":"2025-09-26T16:55:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T16:55:26","slug":"things-which-make-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=11736","title":{"rendered":"Things Which Make for Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Views: 1<\/p>

[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n

In Romans 14:19, Paul exhorts: \u201cSo then let us follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify one another.\u201d Every congregation of the Lord\u2019s people needs these words today, as the church at Rome needed them originally.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Likewise, all across the world these words need to be heard in relations between brethren. We all know that Paul was no doctrinal or moral compromiser, so to begin with, let us understand that he is not urging a \u201cpeace at any price\u201d philosophy. He is rather striving to help us overcome the petty immature personality traits that unnecessarily cause division among brethren from time to time. Paul\u2019s exhortation above implies that there are some things that destroy peace, for example:<\/p>\n

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  1. A <\/strong>desire to have<\/strong> one\u2019s own way at whatever cost<\/strong>:<\/strong> \u201dAs coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to inflame strife\u201d (Pro. 26:21). Only babies constantly contend for their own way.<\/li>\n
  2. A vengeful <\/strong>spirit<\/strong>:<\/strong> Only eternity will reveal the number of times the peace of a church has been destroyed by some brother or sister who is determined to \u201cget even.\u201d Paul urges, \u201cRender to no man evil for evil\u2026Avenge not yourselves \u2026 I will recompense, saith the Lord\u201d (Rom.12:17, 19).<\/li>\n
  3. A <\/strong>dictator\/despot attitude that desires to rule or ruin<\/strong>:<\/strong> John sharply condemned Diotrephes for seeking to rule his brethren (3 John 9). This attitude destroys peace.<\/li>\n
  4. A <\/strong>tendency<\/strong> to ask <\/strong>foolish questions<\/strong>:<\/strong> Some people seek to display their wisdom through questions or problems they pose, when really, they only display ignorance. Paul urged, \u201cFoolish and ignorant questions refuse, knowing that they gender strifes\u201d (2 Tim. 2:23).<\/li>\n
  5. A <\/strong>murmuring<\/strong> spirit<\/strong>:<\/strong> The chronic complainer can never be pleased and discourages others, inciting them to fuss and complain. Such behaviors can result in unnecessary congregational unrest and division. \u201cDo all things without murmurings and questionings\u201d (Phi. 2:14).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The following Biblical traits will help maintain peace among brethren:<\/p>\n

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    1. A <\/strong>total surrender<\/strong> to<\/strong> the authority of Christ:<\/strong> \u201cAnd whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus\u201d (Col. 3:17).<\/li>\n
    2. A conscious<\/strong> effort to live peacefully<\/strong>: <\/strong>\u201cGiving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace\u201d (Eph. 4:3).<\/li>\n
    3. An earnest attempt<\/strong> to <\/strong>treat others<\/strong> as we <\/strong>want them to treat us:<\/strong> \u201cAll things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets\u201d ( 7:12).<\/li>\n
    4. A<\/strong><\/i> forgiving spirit:<\/strong> \u201cIf he repent, forgive him\u201d (Luke 17:3).<\/li>\n
    5. Remember, Jesus \u2018 words:<\/strong> \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers\u201d (Mat. 5:9).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in The Edifier, <\/em>weekly bulletin of Pearl Street Church of Christ, Denton, TX, January 29, 1987, of which I was editor.]<\/p>\n

      Attribution:<\/strong> From www.thescripturecache.com,<\/em> Dub McClish, proprietor, curator, and administrator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Views: 1[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2 page.] In Romans 14:19, Paul exhorts: \u201cSo then let us follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify one another.\u201d Every congregation of the Lord\u2019s people…<\/p>\n

      Continue Reading… Things Which Make for Peace<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[845,151,258,390,405,516,17,153,818,517,884,515,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-problems","category-community","category-encouragement","category-envy","category-faultfinding","category-feelings","category-fellowship","category-forgiveness","category-harshness","category-heart-feelings","category-murmuring-at-marah","category-peace","category-selfishness","wpcat-845-id","wpcat-151-id","wpcat-258-id","wpcat-390-id","wpcat-405-id","wpcat-516-id","wpcat-17-id","wpcat-153-id","wpcat-818-id","wpcat-517-id","wpcat-884-id","wpcat-515-id","wpcat-144-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11736"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24059,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736\/revisions\/24059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}