We Are Family: Day Five
Day 5: Living Out Our Unity
Devotional
Unity in God's family isn't just a beautiful concept to admire - it's a reality to live out daily. While Jesus is the source of our unity, we have a responsibility to maintain and express it through our actions and attitudes. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4, we must be "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." What does this look like practically? It means choosing to forgive quickly when we're hurt. It means refusing to gossip or speak negatively about fellow believers. It means welcoming others who are different from us with the same grace Christ has shown us. It means making time for meaningful connection beyond Sunday mornings. Living out our unity requires intentionality. We must be willing to linger after church services, to open our homes for meals together, to join small groups where we can share life's joys and challenges. We need to ask questions like, "Who needs encouragement from me today? Who's had a dry, hard week and needs a drop of life-giving dew through my prayer, my hug, or my listening ear?" When we live this way, we experience the blessing God has commanded - "life forevermore" in his united family. We become a living testimony to a divided world that reconciliation is possible through Christ.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
- Ephesians 4:1-3
Reflection Question
What specific step could you take this week to strengthen the unity of your church family? Is there someone you need to forgive, a relationship you need to repair, or a new person you need to welcome?
"Unity takes work. It takes grace, it takes intentionality." — Pastor Mike Mura
Prayer
Father, thank you for making us family through Christ. Give me the humility, gentleness, and patience I need to maintain unity with my brothers and sisters. Show me where I can be a bridge-builder this week. Help our church to display such genuine unity that the world will be drawn to Jesus through our love for one another. In His name I pray, amen.