The following is a guest post from my Pastor, whom I take note every time he speaks. Not because I think him a great man, but because I count him a great man of God; who preaches, teaches, and lives a life of Biblical truth. Imperfect in this world, but perfected through the blood of Jesus Christ for eternal life. Pastor James Clidence of Freedom Baptist Church.
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! Psalm 133:1
This verse’s truth has traversed through the ages. We are all different. Each one of us has different likes and dislikes. We have different humor, political leanings, personal opinions, and standards. Yet the Bible teaches us that in spite of our differences, we can dwell in unity. Well, how is this unity obtained? Some may say that it is obtained by further dividing. In our current age, it seems that we only associate with people who have similar interests, but Biblically that is not how we gain unity. I say to you that the only way we as people of God will unify together is through prayer. Ephesians 4:26, Acts 2:44; Acts 2:46-47 all give us how we are unified. Through prayer we give ourselves more to the Holy Spirit, so by prayer, as we are all more given, we can more be unified.
This does not mean all of us will be exactly the same, and we should rejoice in that! All of us are different. God has given us all gifts that we can use to further reach out with the Gospel. We should not disparage someone because of how they reach out, instead rejoice that the Gospel is given out!
When a church is unified in the Spirit, we can rejoice like the Bible says in Psalm 133, but when the church is divided. It can not stand (Mark 3:25).I write this as a challenge and a warning. Each and everyone of us can be used by Satan to break the unity. Gossip, negativity, unloving speech, hatred, unBiblical based criticism, etc. can lead to disunity. We need to always be wary of what we say and do.
Grow Stronger Roots 