September 25
Unity in the Body!

Ephesians 4:1-16

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it^[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”^[b]

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Footnotes:

1. Ephesians 4:8 Or God
2. Ephesians 4:8 Psalm 68:18
3. Ephesians 4:9 Or the depths of the earth

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This life seems to be just one long search for answers.
And we the people, sure do have a lot of questions!
What a wonderful gift it is to realize that we have the "Book of Answers" in our hands.... it is The Bible!

The question very much on the minds of those in our community of believers seems to be, "How do we live together in unity?"
The answer: Ephesians 1: 2-3  
Be HUMBLE- you don't always have to be "right", do you? serve because of Jesus Christ, not because you want to show how "good" you are.
Be GENTLE- There is nothing winsome about a person who steamrolls over everyone!
Be PATIENT- put up with one another's quirks and differences out of LOVE for Jesus Christ, obedience to Him, and LOVE for one another.
Be AT PEACE- we are offered peace over and over again because obedience to God by following his guidelines and commands for us found in the Bible will produce peace in us!
It is so simple... and yet we make it so very difficult.
The Lord Almighty wants us to live in unity.... so out of obedience and love for our God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the comforting Holy Spirit.... let's just do it!!