This Day in History: 0000-01-21

January 21 – Romans 12:14-21 

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
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.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. 

Harmony – it’s the part of a song that lives in the background, strengthening the melody by coming alongside it as a perfect complement that balances the whole. If the harmony is out of time with the melody, or even slightly out of tune, it becomes dissonant. If it is too loud – louder than the melody – it hijacks the focus of all who are listening and becomes a distraction.  But, when it plays the part it was written to play, it makes a far more beautiful piece of music than would have existed without it. 

Friends, we are called by God to live in harmony with one another!  

Yet so often, we live our lives as if we’re the melody, expecting the world around us to fall in accordingly and harmonize with our tune. In complete contradiction to verse 16 we really do believe we know it all, and instead of conquering evil by doing good we become the dissonant racket of a life being conquered by evil. 

May we repent today and begin to live our lives as God intended – in perfect harmony with His exquisite melody! This means we’re going to have to stop looking at life through our own lenses. We’re going to have to stop assuming that whatever is going on in our own lives is the most important thing going. We’re gonna have to open our eyes to the needs of others and start rejoicing with those who rejoice (even when our own situation doesn’t bring cause for rejoicing right now) and morning with those who morn (even when there is much to celebrate in our own lives).  

We’re going to have to stop believing we’ve got it all figured out and looking down on others who seem less spiritual than us. The fact is, there may be a very important lesson from God we’re missing out on because we believe we have nothing to learn from the seemingly simple messenger God has sent into our life.  

We’re also going to have to stop living as if it’s our job to be sure justice has been doled out properly. We’re going to have to trust God to deal with the people who have wronged us, and resist the urge to seek revenge. He is far more capable, far more terrifying, and far more aware of what actually needs to be done than we are. May we let go, and allow Him to handle justice – for He is just! 

Instead, let’s do our best to show kindness every chance we get. Let’s live out love, as God intended for us, and as Jesus made possible. Let’s fall in sync with the glorious song He has written and live in beautiful, well balanced harmony with one another!