Have you ever worked at a job where you felt a strong bond with your co-workers? Perhaps you were united by a sense of mission, or by a respect for your boss, or by the belief that a prosperous company will benefit everyone financially. The more points of agreement among members of the group, the more they will be unified, the better they will perform, and the less likely they will be to fight among themselves.
Christians have a built-in list of unifiers that can keep them working together with a oneness of spirit. In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul listed seven uniting "ones." Think of how helpful they can be to any group of believers working together on the same project:
One body – we are a single family unified for one purpose
One Spirit – we all have the Spirit as our power source
One hope – we all look forward to the same future
One Lord – we all trust the same Person in charge
One faith – we all trust Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation
One baptism – we all have a single identity
One God and Father – we all share the same source of our existence
What a difference it would make if we all could dwell on those seven "ones." – Dave Branon
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love?
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above. – Fawcett
READ: Ephesians 4:1-7
Followers of Christ should focus on what unites them, not on what divides them.
The Bible in one year:
• Ezekiel 5-7
• Hebrews 12