How to Be Blessed By God
Diligence in Unity

Scripture: Ephesians 4:3

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

          The last two days have focused on the scripture in Hebrews which started with the three words: “make every effort.”  Today our scripture in Ephesians, once again, starts with these same three words.    The emphasis today is on our efforts to keep unity in the Body of Christ – the church.  If we want to experience the blessings of God in our lives, we must be diligent in this area of unity among the believers.

I believe that one of the reasons God put this at such a high priority is that it affects our witness.  Those outside the church will not want to be a part of God’s church if it’s in disunity.  The world deals with conflict and discord all the time.  If they come to church and find this same stuff, why would they want more of that?  On the other hand, if they see unity and love operating even in the midst of disagreements, they will hunger to be a part of God’s family.

Are you being diligent in your efforts to keep the unity in God’s church?  Have you gossiped about another Christ follower lately?  Have you spoken ill about the leadership of your church recently?  Have you remained quiet when others were making what you knew to be false accusations about another Christ follower?  If you answer yes to any of these, your diligence is lacking in this area of keeping the unity.  God expects each one of us to take this seriously and be very careful how we handle disagreement in our church family.

“Father, I want to be a peacemaker, not a trouble maker.  I give you permission to convict me when I stumble.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”