Sunday Soaking: “Make Every Effort” This Passion Week

Let us therefore make every effort
to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Romans 14:19

Make every effort
to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:3

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18

Today is Palm Sunday.  

Two centuries ago, the people in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus with great fanfare, accolades, and the waving of palm branches. But their words of adoration were fickle and fleeting … just a few days later, the cries of “Hosanna!” would be replaced with, “Crucify him!” 

As followers of Christ, Easter is our holiest of days. It trumps Christmas, New Year‘s Day, and Super Bowl Sunday. This is the day that changes everything. What can we do to prepare our hearts to worship our king, to celebrate His sacrifice, and to renew our commitment to live for the One who died for us? 

Christ’s death ushered in peace with God. Perhaps the best way to prepare our hearts for Easter—to honor our Prince of Peace—is to “make every effort” to live out the peace He made possible. 

The three verses shared above all implore us to lean in to peace with an all-in effort. Nothing held back. Meeting half way is not enough. The I-will-if-you-will mindset is unacceptable. And when Paul calls us to “do what leads to peace” and to “live at peace,” it’s clear he’s talking behavior, not just attitude.  

Are you ready? Are you committed? It’s hard to get there. Oh, it sounds great, of course—until we think about the people in our family, our circle of friends, our neighborhood, our church, and our social media feeds who seem to take delight in pushing our buttons.  

If committing to choose peace is hard, staying there is borderline impossible. Good thing we serve a God who not only calls us to peace, but empowers us with the Holy Spirit to make living it out possible. Our own efforts at a peaceful Easter family dinner probably won’t carry us through appetizers … but with the Holy Spirit, we can “keep the unity of the spirit” in our relationships.  

We cannot control the behaviors and responses (or lack of response) of others. But we are accountable for our own behaviors, words, actions, and attitudes. You and I may do the right thing, yet others still choose to withhold peace. That’s on them. But if I’m the holdout, the peace-blocker, then it’s on me.  

Is there one more thing I could do, one more action I can take, one more conversation to be had (or one more thing NOT to say) that would make a difference? Is there anything left on my “make every effort” assignment list? Am I sure … and have I checked in with God about it?  

Sometimes I’ve held out because I feel it’s beneath me. It feels like groveling. Is God asking you to do or say or give something that feels beneath your dignity? Does apologizing feel like a sign of weakness? 

Shame. Loss of dignity. Embarrassment. Those sure sound a lot like what our Lord experienced when they nailed Him naked to a cross, paying for crimes He didn’t commit, to atone for sins of people who didn’t believe Him.  

Aren’t we grateful He was willing to be shamed and embarrassed to provide our peace with God? Paul challenges us to do an attitude check: 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus
who being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…
Philippians 2:6

Taking on the attitude of Jesus is choosing to do what leads to peace. It prompts us to make every effort for peace. Those outward actions and behaviors begin on the inside. Our minds have to decide first. The greatest barrier to peace is our mindset. The real war zone—where we wrestle with the Holy Spirit and daily battle with our way vs. His way—is our very own mind. He makes the way of peace clear: 

The mind governed by the flesh is death,
but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6 

Shall we aim for peace this Passion Week? Shall we decide to be all in?

Shall we choose to seek peace, pursue peace, and make every effort to do what leads to peace?

Could there be any better way to honor Jesus, our Prince of Peace?

Whatever comes to mind when you think of peace, whatever temporary absence of conflict you achieve, whatever place you go to find it for a day or so, one thing is certain: true, lasting, eternal peace can only be found in the person of Jesus. In this week’s teaching video, Laura shares some biblical truth on peace. We invite you to visit our Downloads page for your own copy of our April bookmark, then spend each day this month immersing yourself in “peace” with 30 daily scripture verses. As we prepare our hearts for Easter, we pray you will allow the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, to be your source of real, lasting peace.