Unity and Division
a devotional by Nathan Deck
“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 as 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
There is no denying the importance of unity, and we read here in Ephesians of that importance. As Christians we are called to humility, gentleness, patience, and loving. This is obviously because we are all together one in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. These attributes are not natural for most, if not all of us. That is where the Spirit comes in and helps us, as we continue to seek and commune with God thru our struggles and lapses.
Now, unity in and of itself is something that is super important. We all have one thing in common regardless of what our hobbies or views are in other matters, but that means that we must make our love of the Savior the main point in our relationships as believers.
Sometimes though, there are going to be times where, in the sake of unity, or the supposed sake, we will end up causing division. This happens when we allow the infiltration of false teaching, or any kind of evil, into our churches and ministries. When in the name of unity we let those who are more focused on making a name for themselves, rather than lift up the name of Jesus, get there way because we don’t want to make a scene or add drama to a ministry or group. This is wrong, and this is not the unity that God wants us to have. This is actually quite the opposite, and it is important to stand up to people or ideas that may damage or infect the outpouring of the love and the gospel to those we minister to thru our ministry.
Let us never come to the place where we compromise our beliefs in the name of unity, and may we never fear the confrontation of evil in order to keep us from division.