But he does consider them an opportunity.
He thrives on planting discord and disunity, encouraging grumbling and complaining, and advertising the allure of gossip and backstabbing.
To quote Martin Luther,
Groß’ Macht und viel ListEr . . . or, loosely translated . . .
Sein’ grausam’ Rüstung ist,
Auf Erd’ ist nicht seins Gleichen.
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
At the same time that we thank God for the blessings of fellowship that He has granted us, let's pray for unity, and examine the way that we are working towards unity as church members, Christian family members, and Christian friends.
Today I was reading some of what Paul had to say about Christian unity, and noticed that he -- not suprisingly -- premised His discussion on the ultimate sacrifice of personal desires that we find in Christ, and concluded it with a call to join together in glorifying God:
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- Romans 15:1-6
2 comments:
Thanks for the post Emily.
In Colossians 2:2, Paul wrote:
"..that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love..."
Unity comes from being 'knit together in Christ's love'. And love, agape love, is worked out as we humbly submit to Christ and like Him, humbly, sacrificially, help others.
This is one of the passages I pray for my family. Starting with verse 1 I will pray "Father, help us to be strong enough to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just to please ourselves. Then in verse 5 I will pray "Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant (us) to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord (we) may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Then in verse 7 I will pray "Father, help us to accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God."
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