United We Stand

With the Presidential election looming and the country divided, Unity has been strong on my mind. What I find most ironic is the fact that both sides (Republican and Democrat) fear what will happen if the other candidate wins the election. My husband and I were discussing this and we couldn't help but wonder if once the election is final and everything settles back down, if life won't just go back to normal. Of course we know there will be policy changes, tax changes, and position changes, but isn't the way of the human race to focus on getting back to what we know best - leading our own lives? And yet all of this division - political, judicial, and moral - seems to be dragging each of us farther and farther apart.

What I've come to believe, however, is that it saddens God when Unity is lacking - especially among Believers. When Christians can't get along, when they won't forgive, when they slander one another and then act "nice and sweet" to each other's face, when love, mercy, and grace are non-existent...THESE are the things that break His heart.

The Bible doesn't tell us to create Unity but rather to maintain it, to live in it, and to preserve it. In fact, Unity is so important to God that He would rather us makes things right with each other than to bring Him an offering. Listen to these words of Jesus from Matthew 5:23-24:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

It takes me back to when Jesus was asked to pick the most important law to keep. His simple answer was for us to Love God and love Others (See Matthew 22:37-39).  Love, clearly the greatest of all laws, must also be the greatest tool to help us keep Unity. So what are the qualities of Love?

1 Corinthians 13 lists them as such... Love IS:

• Patient - bearing pain and trials without complaint
• Kind - to be helpful, considerate, compassionate, gentle, sympathetic
• Doesn't Envy - doesn't hold resentful awareness of another's advantages
• Doesn't Boast - doesn't brag or overly praise oneself
• Is Not Proud - doesn't display excessive self-esteem or conceit
• Is Not Rude - isn't discourteous, vulgar or unpleasant
• Is Not Self-Seeking - doesn't only seek to safeguard or further one's own interests
• Is Not Easily Angered - isn't quick to lose one's temper
• Keeps NO Record of Wrongs - doesn't hold grudges
• Doesn't Delight in Evil - doesn't promote anything immoral, harmful, repulsive or offensive
• Rejoices with Truth - is delighted over things which are honest, sincere, factual or real
• Always Protects - to cover, guard against, or shield from injury or destruction
• Always Trusts - to place confidence or belief in, to rely upon
• Always Hopes - to long for with expectation, to expect with desire and trust
• Always Perseveres - to be steadfast in a state of grace despite opposition or discouragement
• Never Fails - to lose strength, weaken, fade or die away; to stop functioning

They will know we are Christians by our Love...

In closing, I want to leave you with some powerful Unity-minded Scriptures that really hit home with me this week. I pray they will help you understand God's heart and God's will for each of us.

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:2-3)

"...there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other."  (1 Corinthians 12:25)


"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus..." (Philippians 2:1-5)

Jesus Prays for All Believers: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."  (John 17:20-23)

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues PUT ON LOVE which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." (Colossians 3:12-15)