Daily Devotional for Thursday 19th September
Live like you mean it among one another!
Having understood our position in God’s big God family united into one family, but each of us is unique and part of the bigger picture, we now find out how we should be living!
Verses 1 – 6 of chapter 4 are about how we should be living and acting with regard to other believers. And Paul says, “I’m begging you”, “I entreat you”, if you value God’s love for you and the fact that He’s included you in His big God family, then you should act out of love for each other! Be humble (it’s not always about “me”!), show forbearance (patience, kindly patience – not the kind that huffs in exasperation while it practices patience!) to one another out of love, and work hard/be diligent to preserve unity in God’s family – and Paul calls this “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”.
We are one in God, and peace helps us stay that way.
Paul goes on to emphasize this, “There is one body (one big God family, the Church), and one Spirit (the Holy Spirit)” and we resemble that in the way we were all called to faith in Jesus through the same gospel, our hope. “There is one Lord (Jesus), one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”
Time to reflect…
· We are one in Jesus in every possible way we could contemplate. Why do we act like we aren’t so often? Does this honour the Lord? Sadly, no.
· The good news is God the Spirit helps us keep our unity. He dispenses His peace, love, and joy, and if we welcome that and let Him flow, our relationships with one another flourish, and God is glorified.
Pause to pray…
Dear Father God, forgive us if we get this wrong, please. Help us to let You flow, Holy Spirit, bringing Your love, joy, and peace which makes such a difference. Teach us how to live in You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
