Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Romans 12:17-18

 

You’ll never find a confident, free-thinking person who agrees with you on absolutely everything! Thankfully, love, respect, and unity don’t always depend on agreement.

 

Everybody everywhere has disagreed with someone. It’s impossible not to! We each have our own thoughts, opinions, ideas, and unique perspectives.

 

This is the beauty of community. Just when we think we have it all figured out, someone points out something we hadn’t considered. It’s exciting, humbling, educational…and also hard.

 

Many people feel personally attacked when others disagree with them. And some people can be very combative in how they communicate. So what do we do?

 

First, ideas and opinions matter. They are valuable while not being perfect. They are fascinating while also evolving. The opinions of others should matter to Jesus-followers because God loves people and says that those who know Him will display that love for others in a way that makes the world stop and notice.

 

Second, remember that even your best ideas are limited. Your thinking is limited by your perspective, your exposure to a topic, and the life you’ve lived. Always enter conversations expecting to listen and learn.

 

The Bible book of Romans, advises, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:17-18). We embrace our identity as children of God when we value making peace with others especially while engaging in discussions. This doesn’t mean making false peace with sin. But it does mean that where there is a difference of opinion or conviction, we choose love, kindness, respect, and the way of peace. Simply put, we value people.