A Unified Church – Day 5

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 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. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:1-6


One of the reasons it’s so hard to be unified with other believers is that we seem to be so different – different churches, different personalities, and even different opinions on minor issues. So how can we expect to get along? Paul reminds the Ephesians that while they have a lot of differences, they also share a lot of similarities, which are much greater than their differences. We all have the same God, we were baptized into the same body of believers, and we have the same Holy Spirit. No matter who we are or what church we attend, if we’re Christians, then we’re all saved the same way: By the grace of God. No one deserves to be here more than anyone else because we all came through the same door. Once we recognize this fact, it’s a lot harder to put up walls between us because, at our cores, we’re all the same where it really counts: We’re children of God.

What are some of the things that divide you from other believers?

Are they valid reasons for not being unified?