Living At Peace

Never repay anyone evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and gracious and proper in the sight of everyone.  If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

—Romans 12:17-18 (AMP)        

Prince of Peace,

Let Your peace remain in me, by helping me to be a person who resists the impulse of my flesh to repay evil with evil and chooses the better way—the way that is right and gracious and proper—so that my actions don’t diminish the possibility of me living at peace with everyone.

Help me to remember that any evil that I do to others, in response to evil they have done to me, will only breed more evil—and that if I choose this destructive course, evil will always have me in its ever-tightening grip.

Let me instead enjoy the freedom that comes from being one who walks uprightly before others—being careful to love others in the same way You have loved me—so that I might represent You well and sow seeds of peace wherever I go.

And while I know that it will not always be possible for me to live at peace with everyone, remind me that I must always do my part to be a peacemaker—by speaking only the truth, granting an abundance of grace to all, and letting love be my sole motive for everything I say and do. 

Let Your peace remain in me by helping me to be a person who resists the impulse of my flesh to repay evil with evil and chooses the better way—the way that is right and gracious and proper—so that my actions don’t diminish the possibility of me living at peace with everyone.

For Your glory, Jesus, Amen.