"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)
There
is only One True God. Not many gods, each with their own kingdoms, for a
god over the air who isn’t a god over the land isn’t a god at all! A
god over conception who isn’t the god over death isn’t a god at all. One True God, the Heavenly Father over everything, that is: His One and
Only Son the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit - One Father, One
Lord, One Spirit.
So, if being saved means that God’s Spirit is within
us, why are we not automatically united in thought and Spirit? Because
our default position is our sin nature. Paul tells the Ephesians to make
every effort to keep this unity of the Spirit through peace. He
describes every effort as "being completely humble, gentle and patient".
He tells the Philippians to make his joy complete by being like-minded,
having love and humility towards each other, just as Christ did for us.
When we put ourselves ahead of others, when we demand our “way” and
“rights” we are mimicking the world, and grieving the Spirit. Unity
starts with us having the Saviour’s mindset. Unity requires God’s grace
and power at work within us. Unity requires effort from us; daily/hourly
surrender, and hard work, but unity glorifies God more than anything
else can.
Let’s make every effort together.
Unity is something I find it sometimes easy to dismiss as an idealistic state that we will never get to because other people are so unwilling to put aside their differences to further God's kingdom; but the minute I start talking like that I have to ask myself why I am part of this problem, putting my agenda ahead of God's... It's that effort part that is hard. Dying to self is pretty painful, surrender isn't a popular decision in our selfish, self-sustaining generation.
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