If Possible
READ
Here's the freedom in today’s verse: you can't control other people. You can only control yourself.
Paul knows this. He's acknowledging that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, peace isn't possible. Sometimes people won't reconcile. Sometimes relationships don't heal. Sometimes you do everything right and things still fall apart.
And that's okay. Your job isn't to force peace. Your job is to do your part—to steward your own heart, your own actions, your own responses. To make sure that if peace isn't possible, it's not because of you.
Let’s take a moment to read Romans 12:18:
"If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all"
REFLECT
This is what sustainable devotion looks like. It's not about perfection. It's not about making every relationship work or fixing every problem. It's about faithfulness. It's about doing what you can, with what you have, in the space you control, and trusting God with the rest.
So let's talk about what depends on you. Your attitude depends on you. Your words depend on you. Your willingness to apologize, to forgive, to seek reconciliation—that depends on you. Whether you escalate or de-escalate, whether you hold grudges or release them, whether you speak truth in love or lash out in anger—that depends on you.
But here's what doesn't depend on you: other people's responses. Other people's healing. Other people's willingness to meet you halfway. You can do everything right and still have relationships that don't work out. You can pursue peace with all your heart and still have people who refuse it.
And that's where you have to let go. You have to release the outcomes to God. You have to trust that you've done your part and that's enough.
This is incredibly freeing. Because it means your devotion isn't dependent on other people's cooperation. It means you can stay faithful even when others aren't. It means you can live with integrity even when relationships are messy and unresolved.
But it also requires discernment. Because "living peaceably with all" doesn't mean staying in abusive situations. It doesn't mean you never set boundaries or walk away. Sometimes the most peaceful thing you can do is create distance. Sometimes peace requires you to say, "I can't be in relationship with you in this way anymore."
And that's okay. That's still doing your part. That's still stewarding your heart well.
So as we close out this passage, this series, this month of devotion, here's the question: What depends on you? Where do you need to take responsibility for your own heart, your own actions, your own responses? And where do you need to release control and trust God with what doesn't depend on you?
Devotion is a way of life. It's bringing your whole self to God and to others—steady, faithful, resilient. It's loving genuinely, holding fast to good, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, being patient in suffering, persevering in prayer. It's contributing to others' needs, extending hospitality, blessing instead of cursing, rejoicing and weeping together. It's living in harmony, associating humbly, staying teachable, choosing nobility, and living peaceably as far as it depends on you.
That's the vision. That's who we're becoming together. Not perfectly. Not easily. But persistently. Devotedly. One day, one choice, one act of love at a time.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
What depends on you in your relationships, and what do you need to release to God?
Where have you been trying to force peace instead of simply doing your part and trusting God with the rest?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
God, thank You for this picture of what devotion looks like. Thank You that I don't have to be perfect, just faithful. Help me to steward my own heart well—to do my part and trust You with what I can't control. Form me into someone who is devoted not out of obligation but out of love. Make us, together, a people who reflect Your character and Your kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen.