David said, ‘How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along…that’s where God commands the blessing’ (vv. 1, 3 MSG). When we strive to work together in spite of our differences, God ‘commands’ His blessing to be on what we’re doing. Satan knows this, so his main strategy is to divide. He knows the power and blessing that results from working in harmony; therefore, he makes every effort to bring division. So, when things appear to be falling apart and teamwork doesn’t seem to be working, it may be the enemy trying to stop unity. Disunity can happen for so many reasons. Maybe we become offended over something that’s said to us, or we believe a lie. Gossip is spread or we make up our own mind about people’s motives rather than finding out the real reason. Instead, we need to be working for peace. Paul was definitely an advocate for peace. In Ephesians 4 he says: ‘Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’ (v.3 NIV). While in 1 Corinthians Paul says: ‘I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose’ (1:10 TLB). Keeping peace, especially when the enemy is trying to divide us, can be really tricky and can require a lot of effort. But when we pray and seek God, He’ll help us. ‘Christ himself is our peace’ (Ephesians 2:14 NCV). He helps us to peacefully resolve our conflicts, and He strengthens our relationships by helping us understand others. And when we’re united, the enemy has less of a chance to divide us.
What now?
Are there any areas of division in your church? Today, make an effort to be proactive in starting to resolve them and bring unity back.