It was late at night, and I couldn’t sleep. As I replayed the day over in my mind, I couldn’t help but feel hopeless about the current events in my life and all around me. It seemed like everywhere I went, and in everything I read, division lingered—and it grieved me. I seemed to see it everywhere I looked. I saw it in the Church, in my relationships, online, even at the store. So, as I sat with my grief over the division I had seen for so long, I began to pray. My prayer was simple but heartfelt as I told God how I felt and asked Him what we’re supposed to do when we seemingly find ourselves in one of the most toxic, divisive periods in history. As I prayed, ideas came to my mind of simple ways I could show people His love, and by doing that, create more unity among the people He has put in my everyday life.
One of the most significant toxins to the Body of Christ is a division in love that some believers create, so it is no surprise that the most unifying (and greatest) command in the Bible is to walk in love toward one another. “And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.” 2 John 1:6 AMP So how do we walk toward one another in love when we have found ourselves in one of the most toxic, divisive periods in history? My simple, thought-out, prayed-through answer is this: We can start by praying that God would give us the grace to be someone who creates unity by walking in love.
In her new book “The Grace Giving Leader,” Jan Greenwood writes that “Love—with words and without words—is a universal language that bypasses cultural barriers, racial differences, gender biases, language challenges, and even religious preferences. It is capable of breaking down walls, healing wounds, and giving power to all who need it.” We can show love with words or without words. Either way, love looks like something. Love can look like putting words together to form a prayer to God for the people that have done you wrong. Love can look like leaving a mason jar full of fresh-cut flowers on the doorstep of your neighbor’s house who sees life through a very different lens than you do. Walking toward someone in love doesn’t mean you should ask the mom of the kid who punched your kid in the face last week to brunch next week. But, on the other hand, loving someone in that situation could look like forgiving them in your heart and asking God to bless them on their way. The point is, when you choose to walk toward people in love by doing something, you will create the unity among believers that God desires. You will break down walls and heal wounds. Our hurting world, our hurting Church, needs the touch of God’s healing love so desperately right now. It needs to be revived from the chaos and trauma over the last several years and even days. Be someone who creates unity today. Be a person that brings revival to the chaos and trauma around you. Be someone that breaks down the walls of division that have been built up, so healing can begin and we can put the power of God’s unifying love on display for those that desperately need it.
How can you personally bring unity to the people in your life by showing them God’s love? What is something simple you can do for someone this week, this month, or this year? It doesn’t have to be complicated or extensive; it just has to be done in love, intending to bring unity where some division might be lurking.
Prayer: Lord, please give me the grace today to walk toward people in love. Would you please work through me to create the unity You desire by giving me ideas of what I can do to show love to the people You have put in my life? Amen.
Featured Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay
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