Day 5: That the world will know
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:13-14).
Our Father in heaven, You are the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ who placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church... (Ephesians 1:17,22).
Before He returned from His earthly ministry and was seated at Your right hand in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:20), the Lord Jesus prayed for His followers: I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave me, so that they may be one as We are One (John 17:11).
What a comfort to know that the Lord Jesus committed all believers to Your protective care! Not only that, but He prayed for His church the complete unity characterized in the Godhead:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that you gave Me, that they may be one as We are One—I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23).
Our Lord prayed that believers would experience the supernatural oneness of the divine relationship—"that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You..." (John 17: 21). He prayed that the unity of the church would be a witness to the world of a love so great that You sent Your only begotten Son to save the world through Him (John 3:17).
The Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, teaches us practical ways to apply the lessons of love and unity. To the Ephesian believers Paul wrote, Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). And to the Colossians he wrote, Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12).
Paul emphasizes patience, forgiveness, and over all...love, which binds [these virtues] all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14). He reminds us that as members of one body [we] were called to peace (Colossians 3:15).
O Father, help Your church. Bring us to that oneness, to that unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We are in need, not of shallow agreement, ungodly compromise, and superficial conformity, but deep and abiding love, forgiveness, and unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians 4:13). Please hear us. So that a hurting world will know Your love.
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