These exhortations for the people of first-century Rome are for us, too. Getting along and living in harmony don’t always happen naturally. Most often it takes effort.

Jesus associated with a wide variety of people and didn’t treat anyone as second class. When we see discrimination or find ourselves treating someone as an outcast, we need to take steps to change the situation.

Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” We are to step up and do what is right. If we encounter evil actions, we are to step forward and effect the change that the world needs.

In order to be the change that we want to see in the world, the first change might be ours to make. Let us live in harmony so that we can be instruments of God’s work in the world. We have this passage from Romans to inspire us to take small steps to change ourselves, then our corner of God’s world, and finally, an ever-widening circle.

By Gail Jackins from D365