In Ephesians 4, Paul talks about the bond between believers. He says,
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV).
The unity of the Spirit is interesting to me. All Christians are bound together by the very fact that they are Christians and called to God’s purposes. Paul says we are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling and be eager to maintain the unity that comes from being Christians. I don’t often think of the unity that is supposed to exist between believers, yet Paul emphasizes it as an essential part of Christian life, stating that I should be eager to maintain it. He says,
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV).
When Christians are properly unified as a body, Christ makes the body of the church build itself in love. It is good for me to be unified to other Christians through my faith, so that the body of the church grows and builds itself up in love.
Dear God, please help me to find unity with others through my Christian faith. Thank you for all your blessings, and the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen
Asher (AsherB)
Sixty-six books in a year 