Colossians 3:11-17 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Unity is the state of be joined as a whole. It is being a team and working together for a common cause. I see examples of unity on a daily basis at work. Our crew is a team of finely skilled professionals who come together to address the needs of any patient who walks through the door. For the receptionist, the manager, the nurse, and the provider, the patient is our priority. Our goal is to deliver high quality care whether it be for a splinter removal or a chainsaw laceration! The way that we achieve high quality care is through continued education opportunities, daily refreshing of our skills and knowledge, and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of our team as well as knowing the individual team member on a personal level. We aren’t just a bunch of co-workers. We are family, and we work together like a well oiled machine.
Now you know I don’t like to stand on a political soapbox, and I promise that I’m not going to do that today, but I just have to say that I have never in all my days seen this wonderful country that we live in be so un-united. As a nation, we are so divided, and it isn’t just due to one agenda. You can pick your own corner, but just be ready to come out fighting because someone is going to have a very strongly opposing view, and they are going to be ready to fight you for their viewpoint.
Wait a minute! Before you put on your boxing gloves, hear me out. I’m not trying to start a fight. I just want to end the fighting.
So what we do? Where do we go from here? Paul tells us the answer in Colossians 3. We are all very different people created uniquely by the divine Creator of the universe. As such, we are all going to believe differently, act differently, and yes, sometimes have very strong, deep opinions that are different from others. But if we have Christ within us, we are all unified in that one unique quality. We are God’s chosen. We are His children. As a child of God, we must clothe ourselves as His children. We have to learn to show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We have to learn to forgive as Christ forgives us. But most of all, we have to learn to love. These are the virtues that bring us to unity. I know that some of these virtues, maybe even most of these, don’t come easily or naturally to some of us. But I also know that as our love grows deeper for and in Christ, these virtues become our second nature.
I say all of that to say this; we need unity in our nation, our homes, our churches, and our families now more than ever. We need peace. The only way that we will achieve that is by practicing these virtues outlined by Paul. We have to become more like Christ, and more importantly, we have to share the love of Christ and the good news of salvation with this broken, hurting world. It’s not an option, Peeps. It’s our calling. When I see the mess that this country is in, I think, “there’s not much little old me can do to fix it.” And as an individual, I probably can’t, but when we join together, united as a body of believers in Christ, we can make mountains move! Let’s start trying hard to live in unity!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 