Lately, I’ve been thinking about the body of Christ and what unity looks like. i’ve been talking with people that are having quite a bit of difficulty with friendships they imagined to be long term and Christ-centered… and let’s be honest, i’ve been in more than my fair share of these frustrating relatinships myself!
I found it surprising that so many other people are dealing with the same thing at the same time… A little riff here, a lie or two there, and there is no longer a unity, but a division. this really got me to praying and thinking.
how often is it that we allow satan to speak lies about who we are and who other people are to us. what unrealistic expectations do we put on them, and why do we so often look to them to fill the needs that only God can. Its true for me, and i would guess for you as well.
there is just so much bickering, so much anger and frustration, so much that does not glorify God. and thats what satan wants. you see, i’m starting to look at a bigger picture here… starting to scratch my head and relize the “cosmic battle” that i’ve chosen to ignore. Sin is totally an aiding factor in all this… without sin, the world would be as it should be.
Here’s the catch, John 17:20-23
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
The question is, our lives, our unity with other belivers, this is one of the most significant ways the world is supposed to see God’s love. are you exemplifying that in your relationships, i can think of a few where i do. but it breaks my heart that they all aren’t that way.