Live in harmony with each other.

Romans 12:16 NLT

“I actually can’t believe this is happening in 2017… ”

How many of us have found ourselves uttering these words this year? Too many, perhaps.

Week-to-week, news reports of conflict, poverty, injustice, inequality and global warming flood our screens, leaving us feeling helpless and deflated. Struggling to swallow soaring stats of those who can’t access clean water, hospitals or education, we feel disturbed yet still accept that these stories have become part of our daily routines.

Do you ever burn with a blistering desire to achieve world peace, but give up five minutes later when doubt screams, “You’ll never accomplish any of that by yourself”?

Yup, me too.

Life isn’t over because we can’t help the entire world at once though. The journey is just beginning and bursting with opportunity for bringing harmony. It could be as simple as spending time with a colleague or smiling at a neighbour down the street – it’s amazing how that alone can change the trajectory of someone’s day, week or future. So next time we look around and feel overwhelmed by unfavourable situations, let’s not lose hope. We can start always start somewhere, wherever we are, and allow God to take over.

Living in harmony

Today’s Bible verse comes from Paul, a great friend of Jesus. He was giving the Romans some advice on the best way to live with each other – “in harmony”. It’s pretty much a given that there was some division and discrimination at the time – a bit like our world today. Family pressures, relationship breakdowns, political divides, financial stresses, violent attacks and more. Paul’s conviction for truth and justice was remarkable. He was set on making the gospel available to everyone regardless of who they were or where they came from. Not only did he want all people to “live in harmony with each other”, he made sure his life and character demonstrated this too.

There’s something really enlightening about this verse – not only what it says, but what it doesn’t say! Paul didn’t write, “God will help us to live in harmony with each other” or “look to Jesus so we can live in harmony with each other”. He simply stated, “Live in harmony with each other”. So there you go peeps – it’s on us! We can forgive that person right now. Or maybe we’ve got some apologising to do – go for it. Wherever you find yourself, hold on and have an open heart. Sometimes, we may need to heal from situations before we can live in complete harmony with others, and that’s the beauty of our relationship with God. We can ask him to help us with anything, anytime, anywhere.

This week, join us as we challenge ourselves to take a simple action that will change the way we work, interact and live with each other. It could be sending an old friend a thoughtful text or giving up your time to help out at a local project/community function. Or simply trying to not respond in bitterness and anger when someone annoys you!

P.S To get things going, check out this beautiful track from our friends at Nine Beats. A powerful message that invites us all to live in love and harmony.

(You can find it on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and all major digital music stores)