Thoughts On Pain & Unity

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

One of Christ's last prayers for His chosen treasure, before He was crucified.

No doubt, also, one of the last requirements, before He can come again.

Press together, press together?

Yeah.

But what if...

What if it's hard.

What if you allow someone into your life, as your best friend. Oh, and by the way, they're supposed to be your brother or sister in Christ.

And, just about the time they get close enough that it would hurt the worst, the decide it's time to run you over with the proverbial “Mack truck.”

And, as though that wasn't enough, after backing over you a few times with the “truck”, they add insult to injury and spread slanderous rumors about you.

Friends, this may have happened to you. I know it has happened to many. This very thing has happened to me within the last year.

By the way, it happened to Jesus, too. And all of His Disciples.

Very often, therefore, we are a very distant “group” of believers. Insulating ourselves from those who've hurt us, or those who might.

But this has got to change.

We can never enter the Heavenly Canaan if we aren't willing to have our fellow church members as our neighbors. For eternity.

As one man I respect recently said, unity among our ranks is one of the last things we are waiting for. 'Ye shall know them by their love'

I'm not going to go into a long spiel about how I think it could all happen. Honestly, I don't have the answers. I'm struggling with this as much as anyone. But I will say this much...

We need to pray for the love of Christ. Even for those we can't love. He can love them through us.

We need to pray for the unity of Christ. With Everyone.

And never forget, that Christ will not make you willing to love. You must choose to let Him.

Christ is waiting in Heaven for us. Tears running down His face....

When will they ever be willing to let my prayer for them be answered?'

How long will we keep Him waiting?

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”