In a world that rewards winning arguments and defending our preferences, God calls us to something higher: actively going after whatever makes for peace and builds up the people around us. Romans 14:19 is not asking us to be passive or to just “get along”; it is a call to pursue, to chase, to be intentional. The verse sits in a chapter about disagreements among believers, reminding us that how we treat each other in gray areas is a real test of whether Jesus truly rules our hearts.

Peace Is Not Passive

“So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” (Romans 14:19) That little word “pursue” is huge. Peace is not what happens when we do nothing; peace is the fruit of Spirit-led effort. In Christ, we are called to run after peace, not just wait for it to appear. That means we decide ahead of time: “I will be a peacemaker, not a drama-maker, in my home, my church, my conversations, and online.”

Hebrews echoes this same urgency: “Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14) Notice how peace and holiness are linked. Real peace does not mean compromising truth or avoiding hard conversations. It means bringing truth with humility, patience, and love, aiming to heal rather than to win. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9), He tied peacemaking to our family resemblance to the Father. We look most like Him when we actively move toward peace.

Building Up Instead of Tearing Down

Our call is not just to avoid tearing others down; it is to build them up. Romans 14 was written to believers who disagreed about secondary issues, but the Spirit’s command is timeless: in every disagreement, ask, “Will this strengthen my brother or sister’s faith, or weaken it?” That question alone could change entire churches, marriages, and friendships. The standard is not “Am I technically right?” but “Am I helping this person grow in Christ?”

Scripture pushes this even further: “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29) Imagine if every word, text, and post had to pass that test before it escaped our lips or fingers. Building up is not flattery; it is speaking truth that strengthens. Sometimes that means gentle correction, sometimes encouragement, sometimes quiet listening—but always with the goal that the other person leaves more grounded in Jesus than before.

Laying Down Preferences for the Sake of People

Romans 14 reminds us that loving Christ means being willing to lay down our preferences for the spiritual good of others. We do not worship our opinions; we worship our Savior. That means we can gladly hold some freedoms loosely if using them would wound a weaker conscience or stir unnecessary conflict. This is not weakness; this is Christlike strength. He laid down His rights to save us—how could we cling to ours at the expense of someone else’s soul?

Philippians shows us the heart behind this: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3–4) When we treat others as more important than our preferences, we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus. And as we do, we obey another clear call: “Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Today, every choice—what you say, what you emphasize, what you drop—can either chase peace and edification or fuel division. In Christ, you are free to choose the better way.

Lord, thank You for calling me to a life that builds others up. By Your Spirit, help me today to pursue peace, lay down selfish preferences, and intentionally strengthen the faith of those around me.

Rightly understood, faith is not a substitute for moral conduct but a means toward it. The tree does not serve in lieu of fruit but as an agent by which fruit is secured. Fruit, not trees, is the end God has in mind in yonder orchard; so Christlike conduct is the end of Christian faith. To oppose faith to works is to make the fruit the enemy to the tree; yet that is exactly what we have managed to do. And the consequences have been disastrous.

A miscalculation in laying the foundation of a building will throw the whole superstructure out of plumb, and the error that gave us faith as a substitute for action instead of faith in action has raised up in our day unsymmetrical and ugly temples of which we may well be ashamed, and for which we shall surely give a strict account in the day when Christ judges the secrets of our hearts.

The Master is here, and calleth thee. - John 11:28

"He stood still, and commanded him to be called ". Remember that. He was on His road to His Cross, and the tension of spirit which the Evangelists notice as attaching to Him then, and which filled the disciples with awe as they followed Him, absorbed Him, no doubt, at this hour, so that He heard little of the people’s shouts. But He did hear the blind beggar’s cry, and He arrested His march in order to attend to it. That pause of the King, and the quick ear which discerned the difference between the unreal shouts of the crowd and the terrible sincerity in the cry of the beggar is still open. He is in the heavens, surrounded by its glories, and, as I think Scripture teaches us, wielding providence and administering the affairs of the universe. He does not need to pause in order to hear you and me. If He did, He would - if I may venture upon such an impossible supposition - bid the hallelujahs of heaven hush themselves, and suspend the operations of His providence if needs were, rather than you or I, or any poor man who cries to Him, should be unheard and unhelped. The living Christ is as tender a friend, has as quick an ear, is as ready to help at once, to-day, as He was outside the gate of Jericho. And every one of us may lift his or her poor, thin voice, and it will go straight up to the throne, and not be lost in the clamor of the hallelujahs that echo round His seat. Christ still hears and answers the cry of need. Send you it up, and you will find that true. Notice the suppliant’s response. That is a very characteristic right-about-face of the crowd, who one moment were saying, " Hold your tongue, and do not disturb Him," and the next moment were all eager to encumber him with help, and to say, " Rise up! be of good cheer! He calleth thee." No thanks to them that He did. And what did the man do? "Sprang to his feet " - as the words rightly rendered would be - and flung away the frowsy rags that he had round himself for warmth and softness of seat, as he waited at the gate; "and he came to Jesus." Brother! "casting aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, let us run’’ to the same refuge. You have to abandon something if you are to go to Christ to be healed. I daresay you know well enough what it is. I do not, but certainly there is something that entangles your legs and keeps you from finding your way to Him. And if there is nothing else there is yourself, and your trust in self, and that is to be put away. Cast away the garment spotted with the flesh, and go to Christ, and you will get succor,