“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Ephesians 4:1-3
This message from Ephesians gives us a strong message about our calling as Christians. Paul lists several ways that he considers to be worthy of our calling: humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. These are all attributes and actions that lead to something in particular: “the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.”
These days we can be very divided. Even the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ, is divided. Worldwide, is it estimated that there are nearly 33,000 different denominations of Christianity. Of course, this number is a bit exaggerated because of the method by which is was calculated, but the point stands. There are so many different sects of the Christianity, and so often there is some kind of rivalry or bad blood between them.
The Body of Christ must be united.
Paul exhorts us in this passage in Ephesians to be humble, gentle, and patient with our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of them. He calls us to bear with each other in love. Love! He wants us to genuinely love our neighbors. According to Paul, in a divisive and divided world, Christianity should be a strong and united front, maintained by the unity of the Holy Spirit and bonded by peace.
There’s too much to be said about denominationalism and division, and I won’t even begin to touch on it. The simple answer is this: stop looking for reasons to divide and look at the one reason to unite. Our reason to unite is more powerful than any quarrel that should tear us apart. Jesus Christ and the salvation through his sacrifice on the cross is the most important thing. When he left this earth he left with us the Holy Spirit for all believers. It is the Spirit that is now supposed to unite us. Either the Spirit isn’t doing it’s job, or we’re not letting it work. I think it’s the latter.
Allow the Spirit to move into your life. Pursue humility, gentleness, compassion, patience, forbearance, unity and peace. These are the things that mark Christianity, not pettiness or division. Love each other. Be united with one another. Show the world that when everything else can be divided, Christ cannot.
Prayer:
Father,
Unite your Church. Let us all put on humility, patience, and gentleness through the Holy Spirit so that we may be united in the bond of peace.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Add Comment