Living in peace

from Flying Free

from The Life-Saving Divorce by Gretchen Baskerville

The Bible says there will be people who are in the church - even church leaders - who do wrong and just won't change.

But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who

claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or

greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a 

swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

-1 Corinthians 5:11

But sometimes your friends or pastor will insist that you ignore your God-given instincts and give it another chance. This is not biblical. Jesus called his followers to forgive, but he doesn't call them to trust again or to reconcile unilaterally.

   The Bible instructs us to look for "fruits of repentance" - evidence of sustained change over time, not just sporadic fits of remorse with more abuse in between. Paul says we are to live in peace with everyone, "as far as it depends on you" (Romans 12:18). He's saying the other person may never become a good, trustworthy person. In the end, some people feel entitled to continue in their destructive ways. This makes it impossible to live in peace with them. To live in peace, you need to get away.

   Being a Christian doesn't mean that you entrust your safety and peace of mind to a person who has a pattern of hurting you. In fact, Scripture tells us to get away from angry, destructive people.

Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person;

do not associate with one easily angered...

-Proverbs 22:24

The Apostle Paul warns his fellow Christians about those who pick fights and cause hurt and division. Paul says, "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them" (Titus 3:9-10). Living in peace is important to God.