ODJ: one

July 15, 2014 

READ: Ephesians 4:1-6 

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love (v.2).

Have you ever wanted to take a quick peek at someone else’s mail? Maybe it was an envelope from a doctor’s office that held the results of a family member’s recent medical tests. Or perhaps it was a letter addressed to your parents from an estranged family member. As you held the envelope in your hands, the temptation to open it might have felt overwhelming.
In the country where I live, a person can go to prison for tampering with another’s mail. But, in a way, that’s what we do every time we open one of the epistles in the New Testament.

These letters found in God’s Word were written to individual believers and to young churches that had been planted across the Roman Empire during the earliest days of Christianity. The apostle Paul wrote 13 of the letters, each addressing a specific situation or concern.

Halfway into his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul pleaded with his readers to “make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3). Why did he want them to be one? Because they shared so many ones—one body, one Spirit, one glorious hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father (vv.4-6).

Oneness. It’s meant to be the heartbeat of God’s people. And Paul wrote that humble, gentle, patient and peaceful attitudes are what will help a heart of unity to beat strong (vv.2-3).

When believers in Jesus experience conflicts and disagreements (and we will), pride, harshness, impatience and intolerance won’t keep us together. Those things will only tear us apart. Instead, we need to remember the letter to the Ephesians which reminds us to “be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of [our] love” (v.2). —Jeff Olson

365-day plan› Matthew 10:16-42

MORE
Read Ephesians 4:32 and reflect on the example Jesus gave us of loving others well. 
NEXT
How have you struggled to achieve unity with other believers in Jesus who have differing views of disputable matters? (such as dress, music, worship styles, Bible translations). How can you move towards unity in the days ahead? 
3 replies
  1. Joshua Oha
    Joshua Oha says:

    thanks for this timely reminder….I wish we will all remember that we all need each other to run this race…

  2. Cfba
    Cfba says:

    I’m a miladiadtary wife of four years, my husadband was maradried to his first wife for 13 years and she will get half of his retireadment and she was getadting 1200.00 a month for their two kids. But since we got maradried he has when back o court and got joint cusadtody of the kids. So that septopd the child supadport. I have since stop workading so that I can pick his two kids up and my baby girl up from school…oh did I meanadtion that I have 3 school to go before and after. They all could be going to the same school but his ex-wife dont want them to move and I can’t just move my kid to their school because of the school disadtrict. I have found out that he is still comadmuadniadcatading with his ex.…not just about the kids.…(hint). My queadsion is I’m thinkading about getadting a divorce but can I ask for alimony since I quit my job to help him with his 2a0kids

  3. Abdul
    Abdul says:

    Ms. Michelle, I read Mark chapter 5 this ennievg and i learned from this verse that we should always tell Jesus immediately what we’ve done wrong and ask for His forgiveness. Thank you for praying for Aunt Lyndsay, Uncle Billy and Baby Emma. She was born today at 1:57 p.m. and weighed 2 pounds 1 ounce and is 13 inches long and is adorable. I will try to show you the picture on Sunday. I can’t wait to come Sunday! Love you! Alayna

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