Seeking Unity

Behold, how good, and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1).

God loves unity, but His adversary loves division and strife. As Christians, we need to be sure to choose God's way. In his book, Horizontal Jesus, Tony Evans reminds us that "Unity is not uniformity; unity is oneness of purpose." This means that we recognize the uniqueness of others while uniting for the common purpose of serving God. Since we know that God gives His children individual gifts to fulfill His purposes, we can appreciate how He made each one of us to be different and celebrate those differences.

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Whenever we allow our society, or anything else, to divide us, we are acting outside of God's will. Unity will keep marriages from divorce court, churches from splitting, Christian denominations from being at odds with each other, and countries from having as many conflicts. "Whenever we allow our history, background, class, race, gender, personality, or culture to overrule God's rightful place in our thoughts, motives, and actions, we are...hurting the cause of the gospel" (Tony Evans).

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)

The Holy Spirit is the foundation for our unity. To preserve our oneness, He must have free access and control of our lives. We won't go wrong if we put God's Word into action. The entire New Testament is filled with ways to unify under God, and it's a favorite theme of Paul's. Yes, God loves unity. Let's not allow Satan to destroy it with his attempt to divide and conquer.

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