Unity / Diversity
Word of year
United in mind and conviction – 1 Cor 10 and John 17:20-22
Unity Quotes
Love and Unity
We need to stop thinking that our primary duty toward our fellow believers is to critique them. It’s not. Our primary duty is to love them. Paul says we owe a debt of love to each other (Rom. 13:8). Yet it seems we invest far more time in learning than loving.
Honestly evaluate the amount of time you spend acquiring information compared to the amount of time you spend asking God to increase your love for His children.
Francis Chan, Until Unity
My Pondering
Unity with principles
Grace with preferences
Love with all
or said this way,
Love the sinner / Hate the sin. Let love rule.
Know, grow, show love and unity: Thrive in ’25
Verse 16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last
Verses 16 and 17 wraps up this topic on love. Jesus is summarizing what he said. Before our story started, He had a plan for our lives, he wanted us to be productive and he reminds us of the privileges we enjoy because of being with Him.
What is this fruit that Jesus is after?
Intrinsically linked to our fruitfulness is our loving one another. Jesus deliberately intertwines the vine and branches. I think if we stop to reflect upon our lives and our experience of the church you will agree that one of the toughest things we have had to deal with is relationships.This has been the most challenging area in my faith journey and the reason I have stayed in the mediation of this chapter for more than 2 years. We get disappointed, hurt, offended, ill-treated, abused, and cheated. Yes, this happens amongst Christians.
So how do we cope, what do we do?
Most of us stumble on this thing called love. Very few people have left a church because of doctrinal differences but many have left because of hurt and unresolved issues. Too many church splits have happened because people have not practiced putting love first.
This is where we would stumble and Jesus knew this. Many of us make the mistake of measuring Christianity by how it is lived around us. This is unhelpful. Our standard of truth is the Word of God. Do not judge the church based on how people live because you are also a part of it and her imperfections.
Look at God’s word and see how it asks you to respond in the face of conflict, disagreements, hurt, and injustice.
Sometimes I feel we Christians put a very heavy yoke on each other – that of perfection. We expect everyone to treat us right while we give ourselves such a wide margin that we are off the page!
You see this as a recurring theme even through the epistles. Paul is constantly asking believers to live in love and unity.
When this happens, we will bear lasting fruit (verse 16). We can have many kinds of fruit in our lives. Jesus is looking for one particular kind – the lasting kind.
REFLECT AND ASK YOURSELF|
Have you been challenged in the area of loving people? How did you handle it? Is there anything you would do differently as a result of today’s reflection?
How do you react when someone does not agree with you?
Get in touch with anyone you may have an unresolved issue and approach the person with love and the willingness to understand rather than defend your position.
God desires our love…
Merry Christmas – In this the love of God – 1 John 4:9
1 John 4:9 ESV
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent His only Son into the world,
so that we might live through Him.”
Pondering Scripture
My take: Yes, it is advent season once again as we celebrate our Savior’s birth as we know as Christmas. I also know the naysayers stand on their little hill and say that Jesus couldn’t not have been born on December 25. Yet, He was born like no other and yet He was also born again in such a manner that the years of time were reset upon His birth. I hope and shall remember to celebrate Jesus each and every year and every day until we are united in person, face to face
Let’s breakdown this marvelous passage of Scripture for a moment.
‘In this‘ – the greatest feat ever, the gospel story, the coming of Jesus Christ Superstar to save the world. Yes, THIS is why we have hope and celebrate what happened and what’s going to happen to His faithful.
‘the love of God’ – love is God’s essence, His very core, as we see on full display, in great action by His servant leadership and sacrifice. There is no greater love than to willing and intentionally lay one’s life down for another, yet God Himself by His Son. How deep and wide is the love of God for me, us and YOU? So very deep and wide as His arms and feet nailed to the old rugged cross.
‘was made manifest among us’ – Yes, God in His massive love did what only He could in a marvelous unique way. He jumped right into the beautiful mess we know as life. When the time was right, He came. Talk can be cheap but action is dear….especially this one. It happened!
‘that God sent His only Son into the world’ – some things can’t be delegated, passed or deferred. This was the ultimate request from the Father to the Son. Talk about the God-man on a mission, the ultimate mission indeed, a truly purpose driven life. God did that as many passages illuminate including famous John 3:16.
‘so that we‘ – ‘we’ certainly includes both of us, me the writer of this blog and you the reader. No ifs, ands, or buts….’we’ includes YOU.
‘might live’ – God is a gentleman and desires that we exercise our God given free will to choose for ourself whether or not we will respond to His love of life He has created and offers to us. We had no choice in being born of flesh and blood but we have the ultimate choice in regard to our second birth, as Jesus explained just prior to John 3:16, as He spoke in John 3:1-15 (If you don’t know exactly what I am referring to, it just might be a prudent choice to look it up; it’s only eternity which rides on your response). Not whether your soul is made for eternity but where you will spend it.
I have been chosen and have chosen, today I choose again and tomorrow I will chose once again – Lord willing and His Word says He is.
By God mighty power we, you and me, might choose right!
Let’s live love every moment we can muster.
‘through Him’ – This, He, is the key! From Him, Through Him! By Him! To Him! All Him! Less of me, more Him. Down with my old man and up with the new. He is everything good,
I chellenge myself and you to ponder this today: How do we live through Him?
That my friends is why Christmas is awesome! God is love! Baby Jesus is full grown!
My prayer: May we have a Merry Christ-mas!
John 1:4:9 ESV
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent His only Son into the world,
so that we might live through Him.”
Word: 2024 Love to 2025 Unity – ULLIB
Love and beyond
Love is my word of the year for 2024. It’s such a big and important word and could and should be my word of my whole life; to live love.
As 2024 closes out, I have selected Unity as my primary word for 2025. I love how God sometimes speaks. Thanks to this author, He did. This devo helps and certainly connects the two. From it and other ways which God has been speaking to me, I came up with this pithy acrostic: ULLIB.
So I wanted to share this devo regarding the Composition of love:
What is the composition of Love? In other words, how would you describe or define love? Jesus defined love for us – it is laying down our lives for each other. Is there anyone here for whom you are willing to die? Well, this is what Jesus expects of us. So when we say we love, let us think again.
In day-to-day terms, what does it look like? It means putting the other person’s interest above my own. It means helping someone even when it’s not convenient. It means overlooking people’s faults and weaknesses. This is where the rubber hits the road. This is where the profession of our faith is tested.
Love is an action word – feelings may accompany it, but it is a decision of the will.
Today, love is often misrepresented as just feelings and something that happens to you when the mood and the environment are right.
The Bible defines love very differently. One only needs to look at 1 Corinthians 13. That is our standard.
Love is something we do for another person.
Love is not a feeling. Love is wrapped in flesh and blood. I cannot isolate myself from the family of God and say I have love. That is a contradiction.
That is why meeting together in church or a home group is important. Christianity is personal as well as a corporate faith. We live the faith together. Love cannot be practiced in isolation.
Do you know how many bible verses are there that say “one another”? There are 59 verses in the New Testament on one another.
You can unite around ideology, theology, a cause, or even a common enemy – but that unity is fragile. Should there be a change in any of these elements, the unity will disintegrate.
Love transcends all this. The ideology can change; the cause can change but if you love unconditionally from the heart you can still be united.
You do not have to agree on everything to love. Love that demands agreement on everything, is not love. Its control, manipulative, and often uses fear to get conformity.
In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.
If only we practice this more!!
Our identity matters – 1 John 3:1
Yes indeed, our ID matters and I can’t think of a better one than a child of God, the One and Only!
You are His creation. He created you in His image. You, yes you, were created with godly attributes. Ponder that!
Isn’t it awesome amazing to consider that we can fathom who God is and have a real personal relationship?
The devil, his minions and your old self are going to speak lies to your soul but you can choose to hear the truth. The truth is in God’s word first and foremost. It isn’t make believe. Since God created everything out of nothing, don’t you think He can convey His message in a book?
We are what we think about, at least to a certain extent, to the extent of our capacity God has granted, which is most certainly significant.
We each have three choices in how we respond to this truth:
- We can ignore it and squander our resources (what a waste).
- We can strive for personal success (that’s progress but selfish).
- We can thrive for significance (this is greatness).
Let’s abide and remain in His love, soak it up and share it with others. We simply need to ‘trust and obey’ for there is NO other way.
The bottom line, is that no matter who your parents are and how they raised you, God the Father loves you and you can reprogram your OS. This start and ends with what YOU identify yourself as and with; what your worldview mindset holds. It isn’t just who you are but Whose you are.
PS… Click it. Get it. Get God for He’s got you.
If, Me(God), love
Three of the biggest words ever
