THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE

There is a quiet beauty in Romans 14, a tenderness that feels almost like Paul is leaning across the table, lowering his voice, and reminding us that the things that make for peace are not found in long lists or rigid codes.

If Christianity were a law code, Paul could have fixed Rome’s problem in a moment—“Here is what to eat, here is what not to eat; here is the right day, here is the wrong one.” But he refuses that route entirely. Instead of handing out rules, he hands out principles; instead of legislating the details, he points them back to the heart—back to Jesus.

They were divided over diet and days, over vegetables and meat, over which sunrise mattered most. But Paul’s answer was not a new set of commands; it was a call to charity, to conscience, to patience, to the gentle and Christlike art of leaving one another alone when Scripture leaves a matter open.

And in that refusal to turn Christianity into a checklist, the apostle tells us something profound: the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Christianity is not a courtroom; it is a fellowship. It is not kept alive by rules but by relationships—first with Him and then with one another.

So Paul urges us to pursue the things that make for peace (Romans 14:19), to walk softly with our brother’s conscience, to refuse to destroy the work of God over something temporary, something passing, something smaller than the love that redeemed us.

For in the end, the Christ who welcomed us calls us to welcome each other; the Christ who bore our weaknesses calls us to bear the weaknesses of others; and the Christ who freed us from bondage invites us to live not by fear, but by grace.

And it is in that grace—in that patient, generous, principle-shaped way of life—that peace begins to rise like morning light upon the people of God.

BDD