“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3 NIV)
Over the past few years, I haven’t seen a lot of effort by Christians on social media to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Quite frankly, it saddens me that the politics of this world have taken precedence over the precepts of Heaven in so many hearts. God is not republican. He’s not a democrat, either. His kingdom is not of this world and He calls us to seek first His kingdom. But, are we?
This scripture says, “Make EVERY effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Notice the Holy Spirit has already brought unity. We are simply to preserve and protect that unity. How do we keep the unity of the Spirit? We do so by making every effort at every opportunity to keep it. We can start by considering our unity in Christ more important than our differences of opinion.
The “bond of peace” that preserves unity is Jesus Christ Himself (Rm. 5:1; Eph. 2:14). Christ died and rose again to give us peace with God and with one another and that peace should rule our hearts (Col. 3:15).
It’s the “unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” in Christ that distinguishes us as Christ’s followers and demonstrates to the world that Jesus is the Son of God (Jn. 17:11, 22-23). Are we actually going to let our political rhetoric and Facebook rants destroy the very thing for which Christ died to bring about?
Come on, people of God! Stop it!
It’s okay to have opinions. It’s even okay to express those opinions. But, it’s not okay to express those opinions in ways that impairs unity among believers. And, by the way, just because someone doesn’t share your political leanings doesn’t mean they’re not Christians. God hasn’t called us to uniformity, but to unity. We can have differences, just not divisions.
Christ died to make us one (Eph. 2:14). He prayed for us to be one (Jn. 17:11). And, He commands us to be one (Ph. 2:2). He sent us the Holy Spirit to bring us the unity He Himself purchased with His own blood. Now, could we at least, please, make every effort to preserve it?
© Paul R Downing. Daybreak Devotions.
