Walking in and with peace!

I love to greet people with ‘peace’. In Norway people look at me whit a smile when I do it, however, in Eastern Europe it is a good tradition shared by many. We find peace among the attributes on Paul's list of what he considers a walk ‘worthy of the calling we have received’:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Eph 4:3

I had not been a follower of Christ very long when I discovered that the most prominent characteristic of the devil is his use of the strategy to “divide and conquer”. Unity is the soul of any fellowship. When unity is broken, the fellowship will fall apart.

What can we do to keep the unity of the Spirit?

In his book “Purpose Driven Life”, Rick Warren comes with the following advice:

• Focus on what we have in common, not on the differences 
• Be realistic in expectations (no fellowship is perfect) 
• Choose encouragement instead of criticism 
• Refuse to listen to gossip 
• Support the leaders 
• Practice God's method of conflict resolution (1) 

Paul’s advice to the Romans is in the same spirit:

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Rom 14:19

‘Manna’ for today:

I want to make every effort to walk in and with peace!

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(1) Matt 18:15-17a