“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
1 Corinthians 1:10
The church as God has set it up is truly unique. Filled with members of countless backgrounds, various opinions, and other differences, it could be argued that one of the church’s greatest obstacles is overcoming the divisiveness to become one in Spirit. This challenge from Paul is pretty difficult. He tells us to agree with each other about what we say. Does this mean we can never disagree with other Christians? Absolutely not. I believe the point Paul is making is that we as Christians should never present a divided front, torn up by small disagreements, but instead a united front bonded in agreement over the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Unity comes when Christians live in accordance with the Holy Spirit and allow God to help control their heart, mind, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. When the Holy Spirit drives and guides us daily, our goal becomes to live in accordance with God’s Will rather than our own selfish desires. This is a “life worth of the calling we have received,” as Paul says in Ephesians 4. Yet our calling does not stop here, with our individual attempts to dwell in the Spirit. While at times it may seem easier to walk independently, God calls us to live and walk with fellow believers. This is a crucial part of keeping unity of the Spirit.
Unity of the Spirit looks a lot like practicing the fruits of the Spirit. It takes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to live in unity with those around us, especially when we aren’t all that similar. It takes humility to surrender your pride and to put aside differences. It takes gentleness to preserve unity, as there are difficult situations and conversations to navigate through. It takes a great deal of patience to keep a unified front, and so much love for God and His people to ensure unity is maintained and restored. Paul goes on to instruct that we should make every effort to maintain such unity. In a world where sin seeks to divide and destroy, we have to actively fight to make every effort to keep the unity.
Today’s world celebrates diversity, separation, etc. It takes a growing amount of effort each day from Christians across the world to come together in a unified front. Yet, we are not alone. God is over all and through all and will continue to bless our efforts to come together in harmonious unity.
Prayer:
Father God,
In a world of diversity, help us to open our eyes to see our similarities. Let us set aside our pride, and humbly love our neighbors. Let us come together in a unified front to serve you and your Kingdom. Bless our efforts, and forgive us when we fail.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Add Comment