Unity: October 11, 2010

OCTOBER 11. TODAYS WORD FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 11, 2010.

UNITY

DEFINITION:

The state of being united or uniform; harmony among elements; agreement; absence of diversity.

SCRIPTURE:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Psalm 133:1.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Jesus and His Father were in perfect unity. Jesus said of their relationship in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.” Jesus desire was that there be unity among His disciples and among all believers. This was His prayer in John 17:20-21, “My prayer is not for them alone (His disciples), I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.”

If Jesus was concerned about unity in those days, think how much more so He is now. The whole world is in a state of turmoil and division. God is not the author of turmoil and confusion. His desire for us is that we dwell together in unity.

Unity must begin with those who believe in the Lord. As a believer in Jesus each of us need to work on unity in our lives. It must begin in our home. This is a real challenge for parents in today’s world with all the corrupt outside influences.

It is the responsibility of parents to develop an atmosphere of unity in their home. In order to have unity in the family there must be love, love that is Christ-like and love that is unselfish. Love that is unselfish and Christ-like brings harmony and a desire to work together for common goals.

Successful family units are a rarity today. The breaking up of the family is a serious problem in our society. With the breakdown of the family comes moral decline. Not many today have experienced what the Psalmist has written above, “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”

We have referred many times in these devotionals to the “ME” generation we live in. This is because everyone thinks of themselves only and goes their own direction every day. There is a lack of communication among family members in most homes today. For some the excuse is that they are all just too busy. This is not an acceptable excuse. We can make time in our lives for the priorities we want and family unity is not a priority for many families.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2 that as believers we will develop unity with our families and other believers through humility. He tells us that we must be like minded, have the same love for one another and be of one accord. We are not to let things to be done through selfish ambition or conceit (this is the ME generation philosophy) but esteem others better then ourselves. Paul also reminds us that if we want unity we need to not only look out for our interests but for the interests of others.

You need to take time now to evaluate your priorities. Do you love your family and others as Christ loves you? Is your family in one accord on the daily issues you face in life? Do you esteem others better than yourself? Do you look out for only your interests?

As parents we constantly reminded our children by our words and more important by our actions the importance of living our lives in unity as the Psalmist suggested --- how pleasant it was for brethren to dwell together in unity.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in 1Thessalonians 5:17.

Pray without ceasing.

PRAYER:

Help me to be the leader in my family, my workplace, my community and my church to encourage others to live a life of unity governed by humility. Thank You for the inspiration You gave the Apostle Paul to challenge us to live a life of unity through humility.