Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 133:1-3
Ps 133:1-3
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we see how they suffered from divisions in the church. Paul reprimands them for this and tells them that this division was destroying the church, the temple of God. He then warns them that if anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For God’s children to dwell together in unity is an extremely important subject in the Bible. Jesus prayed on the night he was betrayed that his disciples would be one, even as he and the Father were one.
Paul told the Ephesians that we are to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Not only does this passage tell us that unity is important to God but that he gives the unity and we are to maintain it. If you have been added by God to Christ and I have been added to Christ then both of us are Christians and God has made us one.
Jesus also told his disciples that night that the world would be able to know his disciples because they loved each other. This is one of the keys to unity. Without love we will never maintain the unity of the Spirit that God has given. John tells us that if we do not love our brother whom we have seen, we cannot love God whom we have not seen. It is not enough to just say we love but we must love in deed and in truth. This means we show our love by the way we act.
Another key to unity is humility. Over the years of preaching and working with several different congregations, I have seen both unity and divisions. Almost all divisions have erupted because someone wanted their way – no matter what. If one person considers himself and his ideas as supreme, division will occur. When we humble ourselves and realize that unity is more important than “me” we will go a long way toward maintaining unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Heavenly Father, help me dwell in unity with my brothers and sisters and to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Give me a heart of love like your heart of love. Keep me from every thinking that I am more important than others or that my ideas and my thinking is more important than theirs. Help me stand for and teach the truth but always in the spirit of love. Keep me aware that my goal is to glorify you and your name. Please be with those who are taking treatments, having tests and recovering from surgeries. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
