By Dorothy Wong
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1-7
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Yesterday, I attended a lunch at Steve’s (Spiritual Director at TCM). As I approached his front door, his dog, Duncan barked at me. He was doing his duty as a guard dog and protecting his owner and his territory.
In the scripture above, Paul urges the church to protect and guard the unity of Christ. He doesn’t talk about creating unity, unity has already been given by God. As Christians, we sometimes get caught up in our differences between our church traditions and denominations, it is Satan’s goal to destroy the unity that God has created. We must remember to dwell upon the things that unite us and resolve conflicts between us.
Sundar Krishnan, the pastor at Rexdale Alliance teaches us how to protect unity through understanding humility (opposite of pride).
- Don’t clutch on to what you have but have a loose hold on it (including beliefs)
- Don’t grasp for what you don’t have but wait for it to come to you in God’s timing
- Don’t exploit people for your own advantage but show love to others because God loves them