How To Get Unity

"May the God who gives you endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus." Romans 15:5

I have always believed that the questions we have about The Word can be answered by The Word.

Often the very questions we may have can be answered within the context of the verse that generates our question in the first place. We Pastors always have the question about maintaining unity in the Body of Christ, The Church because of the propensity of believers to bicker, find fault and seemingly any other way possible to invent conflict even when there is none. The first clue nestled in this verse about unity is that it is something God gives and that it is spiritual. This means that the only way to foster and preserve unity is for their to be a willingness to accept it from God and that it comes from within from Him. Another piece of insight from this verse (I suggest you read it several times) that jumped out at me after reading it three times slowly was that we actually will only get to the point of unity if we endure(which certainly implies putting up with something or somebody doesn't it?), that we endure whatever in order to receive the gift of unity.

You see I want to have the result of endurance without having to actually endure anything. Endurance takes effort, sacrifice and patience, virtues that are too often in short supply. The other contributing factor to unity referenced in the verse is encouragement. Anybody overloaded with encouragement? I have so rarely heard anyone say that they received too much encouragement. So, get it?..... People who put up with stuff a little and say nice things a lot find unity more often, Especially those that understand that it comes from God and cannot be forced or coerced and is a spiritual dynamic.

Last comment on the topic of unity from this verse is the last line; 'as you follow Christ Jesus'. Obviously without Jesus in the formula there is no unity. The more people who are following Christ Jesus the better probability of unity. The fewer people following Him, the greater chance of discord. If there is disunity there is most probably an issue with somebody not listening or not following the Spirit's lead, or, somebody is impatient, unwilling to sacrifice or make a real effort. If you are feeling discord, check your own spiritual bearings before you spread that disharmonious attitude around. 'Drama' is so popularized in our culture right now. People seem to thrive on it. The devil loves drama, discord, disharmony and disunity. Jesus loves peace, accord, harmony and unity. May God give us what we really need and give us the grace to receive what we should desire and not what seems to be so titillating but doesn't come from Him at all. Unity is such a blessing, promote it please.

Peace out!
Pastor Fred

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