Friday, October 20, 2023
For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us - to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21
Family the God Way
As Christians, we become a new person in Christ. Unfortunately, we are still human and have to deal with our human feelings, emotions, issues, etc. One of the hardest parts about being human is dealing with other humans. One of the hardest parts about being in a family, is dealing with the other family members. That is no different when it comes to dealing with other family members in the family of God.
When we disagree, or get offended or our feelings get hurt, we automatically see each other as enemies, or at least opponents on opposite teams. But the truth is that we are all on the same team and in the same family, even when we disagree.
When we are saved, we accept that we have been reconciled to God, but we still tend to hold others at arm’s length, loving and accepting selectively. God calls us to reconciliation with each other as well, but when it comes to putting aside our personal preferences to get along with other Christians, sometimes we have a hard time with it. We are all in one family and on the same team. There is no division between us, yet we still build walls and cause division. When Jesus came, He created a new family that everyone and anyone can be a part of. Even the people you don’t like – they are a part of the family too. We are one body, reconciled to God and to each other,
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. Ephesians 2:14-16
Part of being the new person that we are after we become Christ followers is to knock down the walls and erase the lines of division. We can disagree and still love each other in Christ. We can disagree and still act like brothers and sisters in Christ. This is one of those moments we have to put off the old self again.
The important thing that Paul is modeling here for us in Ephesians 3:14-21 is a prayer for other brothers and sisters in Christ. Intercessory prayers are prayers we pray for others. So even when we disagree, we can pray for each other, and we should pray for each other regularly.
We are one family with one Father. That bond trumps all other bonds we have – even bonds with those who we share common beliefs and desires with. Because of the work of Christ, we have no reason for hostility even when we passionately disagree. Pray for clarity to see others through the bond of unity that we all share. Intercede for others through that same clarity. We are all praying to the same Father and a perspective of clarity will help us love and live together in unity in Him.
