“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” – Ephesians 4:1-4
One of the hardest things we need to do in the church is to learn to live in unity. We need to forgive each other’s faults. When we are part of a church, we are part of a family. And we all know how hard that can be at times. Remember when Uncle Frank came over and the Pepsi got spilled? Things can get really heated. We can have disagreements with each other. It’s going to happen. But, as a Christian, Paul reminds us that BECAUSE of the love that has been given to us through Jesus Christ, we are to MAKE ALLOWANCES for each other’s faults.
I love my brother, my sisters, and my parents. We are very close to each other. There are times, however, that disagreements come up. But, it’s because I love them so much, that in all humility and gentleness, we work through our issues. I don’t leave them and go try to find another family that I think will work better for me. I have never given up on them and I never will. I love them. I feel the same way about my church family. God has placed us within our church family and wants us to “do life” with them. Within this family, we get the chance to apply these verses!
It’s so much easier to bail when things get hard. God wants us to stay and work things out. You know, at some point in my life, I will no doubt offend you. And at some point, you’re going to offend me. It will happen. My prayer is that as a church, we can learn to ALWAYS be humble and gentle. To be patient with each other and make allowance for each other’s faults because of LOVE. We need to make every effort to bind ourselves together with peace. If we let dissention and division get into our hearts and into our church, satan will start to divide us. When we are divided, we cannot stand together.
Let’s be a church that is known for loving Jesus and loving each other.
United –
Tony
Posted in A Word from the Pastor