Dwelling In Unity
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. – 1 Cor. 1:10 KJV
Of all the things we as Christians seem to struggle with amongst ourselves, dwelling in unity seems to be the biggest one. It seems that with Christ as our common bound we should (and can!) get along very well, edifying and strengthening each other in the Lord in fellowship and working together easily.
If you’ve ever been a part of a church or a friendship where you don’t see eye to eye on some of the little or big things in life, I don’t have to tell you that this is far more easily said than done. I’m a person who happens to have extremely strong opinions about, well, just about everything. When I hear or see Christians making decisions in areas that are a big deal to me personally I have a hard time not being in contention with them–especially if they feel the need to spout off in person or online about their opinion, in turn seeming to be putting my decisions, which I obviously feel are the correct ones, down. The sinful side of me wants to spout off to them about how very wrong they are, and feels that if they want to open their mouth and blab about it well then they deserve it, don’t they?
However it is just this kind of contention and nit picking about things in life that the devil absolutely delights in. He loves it if he can split up friendships and divide churches on areas that really aren’t a big deal when you consider the entire scheme of life. When we allow ourselves to get worked up and into debates with others it is only a useless and frustrating waste of our time and damaging to our friendship. I’m not talking about big sins in another’s life or gross doctrinal error that need to be confronted, separated from, or anything like that. Rather the bigger areas of life such as how they are raising their children in comparison to yours, their political stances, musical stance, or any other red button issues that cause such drama and strife within the Christian community and cause.
In verse 13 Paul asks, “Is Christ divided?” The answer is NO! But we certainly try to divide him! So the next time you see a tweet, facebook post, or hear some Christian running their mouth when they shouldn’t be, take a deep breath, pray, and go and do something constructive with your time!
Copyright © Nicole Elliott, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved