Philippians 4:2 NLT
“Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.”
REFERENCES:Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 11:19
Think about the anatomy of the body. There's so many parts, functions and processes all working together to create a human being! Each atom and cell are assigned a specific task and without it will cause complications and diseases in the body. The Apostle Paul reminds the church that we must work in unity by resolving any conflict and respecting our unique gifts and perspectives. Our differences help fill in the gaps to complete the body of Christ as a whole and united creation.
If we are going to live in joy, we are going to have to live in unity.
Unity can be confused with uniformity or conformity, but God has made those of us in the body (the church) diverse, except when it comes to the most important thing, our faith in Jesus. We all look different. We all come from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. And we all have varying gifts and ideas. Despite all of these differences that God has woven into us, Jesus is where we find our greatest commonality.
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…. Romans 12:6 NKJV
Unity requires you to live in peace with one another. Rather than disagreeing, we can seek to settle the conflict and choose to have an open heart and an open mind. When you make the active choice to join together despite differentiating beliefs, you are practicing unity. The church was designed to work with our differences because of our choice to follow Christ.
No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.”
1 Corinthians 11:19
God expects the body of Christ to live in unity, but if it were easy we wouldn’t need to strive for it. In Philippians 4, Paul encourages us to focus on our similarities in order to rest in God’s perfect peace. Unity takes work, but when we lean into resolving conflict, we will find ourselves better on the other side. This is God's promise, so do not be afraid. Make the phone call, send the text, and do whatever it takes to settle the disputes in your life so that you can live in joy.
We can learn and grow with the disagreements in our life. As Christians we have a deeper common thing: Jesus. Reflect on what disagreement you need to settle. If you need to apologize, do it, there’s power in forgiveness.
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