special feature by Pastor’s wife, Diane Scallon
Our whole culture is leaning toward individualism. We want what we want, we do what we want, and we seek what we want. How rarely do we come across people who genuinely care about what others want, do what others desire, or seek the best for others? What happened to doing life with others?
It is so easy to hide behind social media outlets, either feeling bad for what we are not measuring up to, or judging others for what they’re doing. How often do you stop and pray for the person that just popped up on your newsfeed? Letting Satan creep in and foster judgments, feelings of inadequacy, or whatever you struggle with, ultimately gives Satan a stronghold.
It is also easy to let little disagreements get amplified into a big fire. Can you say that you have genuine unity in your church? Not the superficial one where on the outside it looks great. But, the genuine, deep-rooted unity, focusing on the main goal of Jesus, which in turn leads to joy. We see in Scripture that God says that the church is a family. Paul teaches Timothy that we are no longer strangers or aliens, but the household of God, and that we are the church of the living God. We as a church belong to God. We have a relationship with God and with others.
God calls us to be united, and we should be unified.
Satan understands something that we really need to wrap our heads around: Satan knows that God hates division.
In fact, Jesus was clear in Matthew 12:25-29 that a kingdom divided cannot stand.
Yet, Satan will do anything to try to divide and break down.
Look at these examples:
- He tried to split heaven up by getting 1/3 of the angels to leave God and worship him! This originated in jealously and pride.Satan wanted to be God.
- He split Adam and Eve with the temptation of the fruit, ultimately leading to a separation between them and God. This originated in desire and dissatisfaction.
- He created sibling division by provoking Cain to kill Abel. The jealously built up over time, and ultimately caused death and anguish. This originated in jealously and competition.
- So much division happened after the flood that God divided the nations. This originated because of self-glory, as they were trying to make a name for themselves.
Note here, Satan knows our vulnerabilities, and will use those to incite the divisions.
Do you know your vulnerabilities?
Do you know where Satan can easily attack?
Are you guarding yourself with prayer and the Word of God?
The ultimate example of unity is the Trinity. The One God with 3 persons is completely unified and wants us to be in UNITY!
The head knowledge of unity is great, but how are we bringing the head to the heart?
Satan is great at dividing us. Are we letting him? Satan understands the unity of God, and wants to keep God from actively working in our lives – in our relationships and in our churches. He wants to keep God far away! Are we giving him the room to divide?
We cannot expect God’s overflowing blessings when we are living in disunity. Are we giving a foothold for Satan to creep in?
Have you noticed that some of the fights that take place in your life – in your family or in your church – start off as something so little, and then get amplified? A simple dislike has led to divorce. Or, a simple disagreement has led to ruined friendships or dividing churches. We should not let differences cause division. In fact, using the differences to foster unity is much more edifying. We should be using our gifts to cultivate our unity.
For example, an orchestra is composed of many different instruments, but they are moving together to play the same song. A church is like an orchestra. Everyone has different gifts, but we are working toward the same purpose. We ought to embrace our uniqueness. But keep the goal the same: to glorify God! We should be of the same mind with one another, so that we can glorify God our Father with one voice and one purpose.
We should be giving room for God to work marvelously. As long as there is disunity, whether the disunity is blatant or hidden, we won’t reap fullness of joy. Don’t let Satan get a foothold.
Are we loving each other well?
Ephesians 4:3 says, “Endeavor (make every effort) to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond (belt) of peace!” The basis of unity is the Holy Spirit. We need to let the Holy Spirit rule. He is more powerful than the devil. The Holy Spirit is engaged when we are operating in the way God wants us to. Are we letting the Holy Spirit actively lead our life? In our relationships? In our marriages? In our churches?
We should not cultivate a false sense of unity with a happy face and superficial interactions. In fact, actively pursuing unity with God’s help will nourish a joyful atmosphere, which will drastically change how we do life.
Do not let Satan take a little thing and amplify it into something huge!
But, let the Holy Spirit lead in God’s truth and grace. Let the truth of the Gospel transform us from the inside out.
Remember to love God and cultivate your relationship with God, so that you can love people and cultivate your relationships with others.