Unity

One of the most difficult things about parenting a young child, in my opinion, is the amount of repetition I need to provide. If someone were to log every phrase that comes from my mouth throughout a day, most of them would be repeated over and over and over again. A dear friend of mine recently reminded me that these younger years in my childrens' lives are, in essence, the training years, thus the reason for all the repetition. So many times I think, “If he would only remember and do what I’ve asked of him! When will he learn?!?!” And then, within that moment, I am often reminded of my loving, patient, and kind Heavenly Father. I do wonder if He thinks of me as I do with my children.

As children of God and followers of Jesus Christ, it is vital that we remember what the Lord has done and obey what He has asked of us. Obviously that is one of the best arguments for getting in the Word of God – renewing our minds continually so we can do what God asks of us (Romans 12:2). For anyone who is part of a community of believers, which should be every believer, Philippians 2 should be a passage that we read and reread on a regular basis. I don’t know what was going on in the Philippian church that prompted Paul to write these words, but there must have been a fear of disunity in some way for him to write this. If we were to read on in Philippians, we do find him addressing two women specifically, Euodia and Syntyche, who were in the midst of some kind of disagreement (4:2). Whether or not 2:1-4 are geared toward these women or the church at large, these words are certainly applicable to all believers.

I think the theme of these verses is unity, and a strong call to unity at that. Paul reminds this fellowship of believers that we receive much from being in relationship with Christ – encouragement, comfort from His love, fellowship with one another produced by the Spirit, affection and mercy – just to name a few. These benefits should drive us to impart these to one another as Christ has to us. This, in reality, is an obligation of being linked to Christ. Being a follower of Christ means that we emulate Him.

Paul continues on, explaining what it would take individually to bring about unity:

• don’t be selfish or conceited
• don’t live to impress others
• be humble
• put others before yourself
• be interested in the affairs of others, not just your own

Seems like selfishness/self-centeredness is what divides two or more believers. Looking at that list above, how easy it is to let self creep into a discussion or situation with another person. After studying this passage, I see the great need for me to feast on the Word of God and earnestly pray to relinquish my selfish desires before I have a discussion or meeting with another person regarding any type of issue. I realize that doing this is not always practical, but when possible, I really need to do this. Maybe just writing out these verses and slipping them into my meeting notebook would be a start. More so, I should stick these verses above my phone or on my computer screen. Whatever the case, these verses are not only useful but vital in instructing us how to work with one another to bring about unity.

I hope and pray that as we study His Word that we would be a changed people. I needed to hear these words and am grateful that the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to train us and change us to be more like Him. To Him be the glory for those kinds of results!