The Way To Unity

[Gerry]

Ephesians 4:31: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

The same Scripture as rendered in the beautiful JB Phillips:

"Let there be no more resentment, no more anger or temper, no more violent self-assertiveness, no more slander and no more malicious remarks, Be kind to each other, be understanding. Be as ready to forgive others as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

If we put this into practice in our daily lives, we will see a coming together as the Body of Christ like we have not seen before!

 

[Kristen]

Wonderful, I agree.

 

[nomad]

Yea, Gerry I agree with you 110%

We really truly need to do this.  We all have our faults.  We really need to try and look beyond what we see and get to the root of the problem when there is a problem or misunderstanding.

Get over it and get going.  We have better things to do then to get caught up in trivial issues.

 

[Gerry]

Today at 12:54 AM nomad said this in Post #3

Yea, Gerry I agree with you 110%

We really truly need to do this.  We all have our faults.  We really need to try and look beyond what we see and get to the root of the problem when there is a problem or misunderstanding.

Get over it and get going.  We have better things to do then to get caught up in trivial issues.

Amen! And ya know what? In the overall scheme of things most "issues" in our lives are truly trivial!

LOL! I was thinking how difficult it is to fight with someone who is only smiling and saying "I love you".

You are right. When misunderstandings arise, we need to forgive and get over it, for indeed we have more important things to do. I have also found from experience that the more we TRULY love a person the more they tend to love us.

 

[Sharky]

That's like super duper awesome scripture there gerry.

Man i gotta keep eating up God's word more. Can't seem to get enough from it.

 

[Gerry]

Today at 12:41 AM Kristen said this in Post #2

Wonderful, I agree.

Your reply reminded me of a couple of things. One, The Power of agreement between two Christians. Matthew 18:19: "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."

The other thing is an old Hymn we used to sing called "Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus!"

There is never a day so dreary,
There is never a night so long,
But the soul that is trusting Jesus
Will some-where find a song.

There is never a cross so heavy,
There is never a weight of woe,
But that Jesus will help to carry
because He loveth so.

There is never a care or burden,
There is never a grief or loss,
But that Jesus in Love will lighten
When carried to the cross.

There is never a guilty sinner,
There is never a wan-d'ring one,
But that God can in mercy pardon
Thru Jesus Christ, His Son.

Wonderful, wonderful Jesus!
In the heart He implanteth a song;
A song of de- liv-'rance, of courage, of strength-
In the heart He implanteth a song.

 

[Blessed-one]

this is just lovely Gerry!! if only people could stop talking about the things afterwards as well, accepting others is just as important too. I wish everyone could love each other just like Jesus's love!

 

[nomad]

LOL! I was thinking how difficult it is to fight with someone who is only smiling and saying "I love you".

Oh this one is a real keeper.  What an incredibly awesome tidbit of wisdom.

I was imagining in my mind the application of this and the reaction of the person.

I used to drive a truck over the road and would commonly be addressed by the Universal "bird".  I learned from another fellow Just smile and wave at them.  They usually got madder because they weren't satisfied by your response.

 

[Gerry]

Today at 01:37 AM nomad said this in Post #8



Oh this one is a real keeper.  What an incredibly awesome tidbit of wisdom.

I was imagining in my mind the application of this and the reaction of the person.

I used to drive a truck over the road and would commonly be addressed by the Universal "bird".  I learned from another fellow Just smile and wave at them.  They usually got madder because they weren't satisfied by your response.

LOL! I wrote a true story once about "A Dollars Worth of Love"! It is a bit too lengthy to post here but I tell you one of the two points of the story.

It seems I went to work for a very "grouchy" lady who was most unhappy and very miserable. After I took the job she seemed to live for the thrill of "chewing me out" unmercifully. She would stand in front of me and rant and rave for hours. One day when she was doing this I turned and walked out the door and drove down the street and pulled into a florists shop. All this without even a conscious thought of what I was doing. I was as though it was happening to someone else. lol Anyway I told the Lady I wanted to buy a flower for someone and to make a long story short after reaching into my pocket I discovered I had only a single dollar bill. Well the Lady said, "OK I have just the thing for you. She took my dollar and returned with a single beautiful Red Rose. Being young and ignorant of the language of flowers, I took the Rose and returned to work. I walked in with it behind my back and walked up to the lady , who was still in the same spot, and still "chewing". I am not sure she missed a beat or ever realized I was gone. When I was positioned in front of her (She was standing in the doorway of her office) I took my hand from behind my back and held out the Rose to her. She stopped mid sentence and said sheepishly, "For me?" I simply said "yes". She took the Rose, took one step back and closed the office door. She never again said a word to me that was not kind loving and gentle. We became friends. There is much more to the story, and it gets even better. But I suppose the point is even the hardest of us melt when confronted with acts of love and kindness. The catch is the Love must be sincere and from the heart. But that is not hard when we allow The love of Jesus to flow through our heart.

 

[Blessed-one]

The catch is the Love must be sincere and from the heart.

amen!

 

[Gerry]

Today at 01:22 AM Blessed-one said this in Post #7



this is just lovely Gerry!! if only people could stop talking about the things afterwards as well, accepting others is just as important too. I wish everyone could love each other just like Jesus's love!

Ya know salvation is a matter of Choice! Jesus does not force anyone. The same is true of love. We can choose to obey Christ and love one another or refuse. I realize it is not always easy to love others but I do know if we make the conscious decision to love others with the love of Christ, He will love them through us and we will soon find that loving is not as difficult as we may have thought. Once we choose to OBEY His command to love, we will find He makes it possible where we could not do it on our own.

 

[Gerry]

Today at 01:17 AM Sharky said this in Post #5

That's like super duper awesome scripture there gerry.

Man i gotta keep eating up God's word more. Can't seem to get enough from it.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Sharky, you are blessed and you will be filled!

 

[nomad]

"A Dollars Worth of Love"!

Your just full of goodies aren't you.  I really enjoyed reading that story.  How true it is that a little kindness can melt the hardest heart.  Been there, done that on the recieving end of the kindness.

I really believe Love is the most powerful weapon of the arsenal of God.  I guess thats one of the reasons I point to it in my posts.

The catch is the Love must be sincere and from the heart.

Blessed-one you keep that up and God will hand the throne over to you. .  There is nothing worse or more empty then someone who is not sincere in what they are doing.  I think of when Jesus said your all polished up on the outside but filthy on the inside.

 

[GraftMeIn]

Wonderful post Gerry! It's truly a beautiful thing when a body of believers come together in such a way.

 

[sbbqb7n16]

Phil_2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil_2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil_2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil_2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.


Oh if we could all be unified by having the attitude of Jesus Christ!!! What wonders we could do for this world....

 

[Gerry]

Today at 06:09 PM sbbqb7n16 said this in Post #15

Phil_2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil_2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil_2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil_2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.


Oh if we could all be unified by having the attitude of Jesus Christ!!! What wonders we could do for this world....

Amen! Kinda makes you wonder though, how we can all be filled with the same Spirit and yet not be in unity, doesn't it!?

 

[altya]

I agree with Gerry – we need to work on these three things to be able to walk in unity.


(1) HUMILITY, that proper self-estimate—both positive and negative;

(2) GENTLENESS, that genuine concern for people in their need to be loved, accepted, and treated with dignity;

(3) PATIENCE. Patience will show itself in a loving tolerance of people (including oneself) in their weaknesses and shortcomings, but not in ignorance or encouragement of such shortcomings, since love seeks the best interests of others. Patience is also manifested in a strong desire to keep the UNITY of the SPIRIT in the bond of peace. This is not the same thing as keeping the peace, which too often implies unsatisfactory (as opposed to satisfactory) compromises. To foster true unity requires endless patience as sinful personalities are brought closer to Christ and therefore to each other.


Ephesians 4:3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the

 

[Gerry]

Today at 10:48 PM altya said this in Post #17

I agree with Gerry – we need to work on these three things to be able to walk in unity.


(1) HUMILITY, that proper self-estimate—both positive and negative;

(2) GENTLENESS, that genuine concern for people in their need to be loved, accepted, and treated with dignity;

(3) PATIENCE. Patience will show itself in a loving tolerance of people (including oneself) in their weaknesses and shortcomings, but not in ignorance or encouragement of such shortcomings, since love seeks the best interests of others. Patience is also manifested in a strong desire to keep the UNITY of the SPIRIT in the bond of peace. This is not the same thing as keeping the peace, which too often implies unsatisfactory (as opposed to satisfactory) compromises. To foster true unity requires endless patience as sinful personalities are brought closer to Christ and therefore to each other.


Ephesians 4:3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the

I am wondering....hmmmm Are not these three attributes in fact Fruits of love?

 

[Gerry]

Today at 05:09 PM GraftMeIn said this in Post #14

Wonderful post Gerry! It's truly a beautiful thing when a body of believers come together in such a way.

Indeed! A united body of believers is the epitome of Beauty!

 

[altya]

Yes, every fruit of the spirit is actually a fruit of love. I always try to see love as an 'orange' and all the fruits a segment of it.