Love Your Difficult Neighbor

What do you do when you have an argument? How do you solve it? When you are hurt, you might want to fight back.

God says that we should do all we can to make peace with those around us (Romans 12:18). Isaac’s story shows us that this isn’t always easy! God blessed Isaac, and he became a very wealthy herdsman and farmer. The people around him became jealous, filled his wells with dirt, and demanded that Isaac move somewhere else. Isaac could have gotten angry and refused to go away. In his anger, he could have fought back and maybe even taken some of their things away from them. At the very least, he could have ignored them and kept on doing his own thing.

Do you know what Isaac did instead? In order to keep the peace, he agreed to leave and look for a new place to live even though he was right and the others were wrong. In this new place, people again ruined his well and insisted that he leave. And then it happened again! What did Isaac do each time? He packed up his people and left…peacefully.

God doesn’t expect us to just let people be mean to us or push us around. But he does expect us to do whatever we can to make peace with others. This means we need to look for the good in other people, work with them to find a peaceful solution, or—if need be—walk away. Remember, God isn’t only concerned with who’s right. He wants us to “...try to live at peace and help each other have a strong faith” (Romans 14:19). Is there someone you need to try to make peace with this week?

Prayer

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