Jesus prayed for our unity as his followers. The apostles taught that unity among believers is essential to our character and practice and that it is central to our worship. In fact, it could be argued through scripture that it is impossible or at best difficult to say the least, for us to worship at all unless it is done in unity. A divided heart, a divided home, a divided people, cannot truly worship God. Why? Because in division, there is nearly always haughtiness, pride, arrogance, power grabs, anger, lack of self control, and other such character flaws, emotions, and manifestations of evil spirits at work in the hearts of men. Seldom if ever can there be a division without these and other sins involved. Therefore, God cannot be honored nor glorified by a heart that is stained by division. Jesus taught us that a house divided will fall every time. It only stands to reason that if Jesus and the entire New Testament bear witness to this matter and place so much emphasis on it then it should not only be in the forefront of our thoughts and practices but it should take precedence over many other things that are of lesser importance. No matter the “beef” we have with someone inside the church, we must not allow it to divide us, especially from Jesus. Consider the following passages this week on the matter and reflect on your own heart in light of what you read.
Ephesians 2:11-22; 4:11-16
John17:20-23
No comments:
Post a Comment