Unity

"I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. There is one body and one Spirit, just are you were called to one hope at your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-6

One of the most beautiful aspects of the bible to me is that most of it is written to believers. As I read these verses tonight I thought of how appropriate these words are today to those of us who claim a relationship with Jesus Christ. Each of us have a calling from God. When we begin walking in that calling it can be easy to become self-righteous and impatient with others. When we reach new levels of revelation with God it can be easy to look at others who have not reached the same levels and judge them for where they are in their walk. We are told in these verses to walk in our calling with humility and gentleness. 

It has been my experience that some of my harshest, most hurtful critics have come from within the body of believers. Those who should have extended love and been the most accepting were the very ones who formed "cliques" and excluded those who did not fit their standards of cool. Whenever we accept or reject other believers we are working against unity within the body. We are commanded here, as well as in other scriptures, to do all we can to live in peace with other believers. Unity is not hard to achieve when we are living in humility, gentleness, and patience. These do not come about by accident. The verse above shares how we are to be diligent in keeping the unity of the Spirit. It is only through the grace of the Holy Spirit that we can live in true unity with others. 

When we keep in mind that we are all serving the same God it is easy to lay aside our own personal agendas. So often I have seen disunity come about as the result of believers focusing on their goal or vision, while neglecting the true vision of God. If our goal is each to witness to others with the love of Christ, then no personal agenda should ever take precedence to that. No fancy leadership titles or positions of spiritual authority should separate us from the calling of someone who has just recently been saved. Again, we are all serving the same God. 

My prayer for each of you today is that you would experience in infilling in your spirit of humility, gentleness, and patience. If there are areas of disunity in your life, I pray for the strength to diligently renew those relationships. Remember, we are all serving the same Lord according to each of our callings.