EPHESIANS 4
Paul had been talking about God’s grace in the first part of Ephesians. Now because of grace, God is focusing on living in a way that pleases Him. Understanding what God did for us by taking our place on the cross, living according to God’s Word should be a no-brainer. We don’t do this so God will love us, but because He does love us. It should be motivated out of gratitude, not a desire to earn favor.
Paul lived what he preached and because of this, he ended up in prison. As believers, we have been called by God, saved by His grace, and transformed spiritually into a new person. We have become a child of God. Our heavenly Father expects us to love others like He does. We are called to be gentle and patient with people we come in contact with.
This sometimes becomes a challenge when we engage with unbelievers. We must remember that God loves all people and they are precious to Him. He does not want any to spend eternity separated from Him. We need to look at unbelievers through God’s eyes.
When it comes to believers this should not be an issue. We are all children of God. Jesus is our Lord and Savior and we worship Him because He is God. We have one faith and have the Holy Spirit living in and through us. Remember we have the same destination, heaven. We will be spending eternity with one another. Here on earth in the church, we should be humble and patient with each other. Remember, all of us have faults.
Church splits are not uncommon. This destroys the ministry and testimony of the church in their communities. This is a lose, lose situation for the church. In some cases, the church will close it’s doors and cease to exist. What a tragedy! One church that I am aware of, out of anger, lost two groups of members that decided to go their separate ways and start their own churches. The folks left behind survived and started to rebuild their ministry.
The two new churches were started as a result of the break-up lasted for a few months and disappeared. Obviously, God was not in either church. They were started as a result of anger, selfish desires and pride.
So, why is there division within the church? There is one main reason. Christians focus on each other or minor details that have negligible importance, minutia, instead of Christ and what He has called us to do. When we lose our focus on Christ, then our gaze shifts to what others are doing and we start to critique their actions. This will grow into an out-of-control forest fire and cause division within the church.
I heard about a man rescued from a small island in the Pacific ocean. He had been there several years. One of his rescuers asked about the 2 buildings the man had constructed. He said the one on the North side of the island was the church he used to go to and the one on the south side of the island is the church he currently attends. Just like people today, can’t even get along with self. We can focus on everything except Jesus and His will for us.
Take care of yourself and grow in the Lord. Strive to become more Christlike. Be an encourager to others and help them grow spiritually. Don’t criticize, love and help them as they seek God’s will for their life. Psalm 23 says Jesus is our shepherd and we need to follow Him. That means don’t lose sight of Jesus and we can trust Him to lead us in the right direction.