A one another command
Be at Peace With One Another
After His disciples had been arguing about who was greatest, Jesus told them to have salt in themselves and to be at peace with one another. The setting is rivalry inside His own circle. Against their jockeying for position, Jesus calls them to a preserving, seasoning saltiness of character and to the peace that comes when the desire to be first no longer poisons their fellowship.
“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”Mark 9:50
What it means
To be at peace with one another is to actively pursue harmony and lay down the rivalries, resentments, and quarrels that fracture a community. Jesus links it to having salt in ourselves, meaning an inner integrity and grace that preserves relationships rather than corroding them. Since He said this after the disciples argued about greatness, peace here is the opposite of competing for status. It means giving up the need to win, to be right, to be first. Practically it involves guarding your tongue, refusing to nurse grudges, addressing conflict honestly instead of letting it fester, and preferring reconciliation over the grim satisfaction of being proven correct. It is a peace you make, not merely one you wish for, rooted in a heart no longer ruled by pride.
How Christ did it first
Jesus is our peace, the one who broke down the wall of hostility and reconciled us to God when we were His enemies. He made peace by the blood of His cross, absorbing the conflict in His own body so that we who were far off could be brought near. The night before He died He knelt and washed the feet of men who were still arguing over greatness, answering their rivalry with a servant's love. He did not demand His rights as the highest; He took the lowest place to make peace with us. So when you pursue peace with a brother or sister, you reflect the reconciling heart of the One who made peace with you at the cost of Himself.
How to live it
Take one step toward peace today where there is friction. Go first: apologize even if the fault was mostly not yours, or let a small offense simply drop. Address a lingering conflict honestly and gently instead of avoiding the person or venting to others. Notice where you are competing to be right or first, and lay it down. Guard your words in a tense moment. Peace is something you actively make, so make it, and let the desire to win give way to the desire to reconcile.
Questions people ask
What if the other person will not make peace with me?
You are responsible for your part, not theirs. Paul says, as much as depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do what you can to pursue reconciliation with honesty and humility, and entrust the rest to God. Peace takes two, so you cannot force it, but you can make sure the barrier is not on your side. Keep your heart free of bitterness even while you wait.
What did Jesus mean by having salt in ourselves and being at peace?
Salt preserves and seasons, so having salt in yourself points to an inner integrity and grace that keeps you from corroding your relationships. Jesus said it right after the disciples fought over greatness, so He is contrasting a self-serving heart with a seasoned one. When pride and rivalry are replaced by that inner saltiness, peace with one another naturally follows. The peace outside flows from the character within.