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17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ~ Romans 12:17-18
Today, we return to our study of Romans 12-16 where the Apostle Paul shows us what a servant looks like. This whole final section in the book of Romans is all predicated on the command in Romans 12:1, "By the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice." Being a sacrifice to the Lord is the same as being the servant of the Lord.
Servanthood which is the opposite of the self life is God's goal in our lives. Deciding to be a servant does not come natural for any of us, in fact, it is the byproduct of the workings of God's grace and mercy in our lives. This is why it takes so long for us to see the value of being a servant. While most believe this life is about what we get, the life the Lord Jesus died to give us is about what we give.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men."
When somebody does something evil to us, unless we are walking tightly with the Lord, we will react to evil with evil. This is our default mode or our natural reaction. In order to avoid this, we must daily submit ourselves to the Lord as His servants so that we do not go the way of the self. We must prepare and position ourselves to do good when evil comes. This is a deliberate process, otherwise we fail at being the servants of God in this dark and lonely world.
Looking to exact revenge on someone is one of the biggest expressions of insecurities known to man. It takes a bigger than big man to treat those who mean us harm with kindness. And, the inevitable result of trying to get even with people is that we escalate the conflict. When we feed the flesh this is inevitable and inescapable.
This does not mean that we should seek to please everyone, rather it means that we should live righteously according to God's principles in plain view of everyone. We should be fair and honest in all of our dealings with others. We should be above reproach in the sight of our peers. This incredible result is the byproduct of knowing God and His culture for ourselves. The more we understand God's grace toward us, the more likely we are to also extend grace to others when they wrong us. This happens supernaturally as the result of submitting ourselves to God as living sacrifices and by renewing our minds by the Word of God. When we do this His presence is known to others through our yielded lives.
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men."
The Golden Rule says, "Do unto others what you would want them to do to you." This principle came from the Lord Jesus as recorded in Matthew 7:12. In fact, the Lord Jesus reminds us that this relational principle in life is much of what God gave us through the Old Testament Law and Prophets.
The general rule in life is: "Hurt people, hurt people." We must be careful not to assume another person's motives. They might be in crisis and need some grace.There are some people in this world when we try to make peace with them, we discover it is just not possible. When we have tried everything there is to do, and they will not respond, we can't a whole lot about that. The reality is that it takes two to make peace. But, if it’s possible, as much as we can, we are to never let the conflict come from us. We are to always make peace and resist conflict.
Understanding the principle found in Romans 8:28 that God uses all things together for our good is key in all of this. The Old Testament Patriarch, Joseph understood this principle very well, and, look at where it got him. When his brothers wanted him dead, Joseph continued to be defined by God which meant that he responded to the hate in his brothers with love. Interestingly, Joseph's brothers tried to get rid of Joseph because they were being defined by the self. And, as a result, they wanted to get rid of Joseph. But, in doing so, they fulfilled Joseph's dreams. Amazingly, in the end, the Lord allowed the ill-treatment of Joseph to equip Joseph to bring God's blessing to many in Egypt and throughout the world. It takes the ability to recognize that God is sovereign and that He uses all things for our good. We never know how involved God is involved even in the most difficult days of our lives.
