Corona Devo 498

Is there unity on your team?  In your family?  At the office?  In your classes, at church, or on your street?

Unity, harmony, and being-in-sync-with-one-another is beautiful to gaze upon.  Families/teams/offices/neighborhoods/churches that share in it are noticeable and they stand out from the crowds of individuals who are fiercely promoting only themselves.  Unity and togetherness provides an undercurrent of success that has nothing to do with month-end sales or how many runs were scored.  (Although I have noticed that the bottom-line is often more favorable when team-members get along and share in fellowship.) 

We may enjoy this harmony in some circles of our life, or we may secretly crave it from afar as we watch others partake in such community.

But how does it occur?  What is involved in facilitating fellowship?  What are the steps to creating a culture of connectivity?

It is work for sure.  Getting along with others doesn't "just happen".  It is in our human nature to serve ourselves first and to seek the spotlight.  Observe any two year old that vehemently shouts "Mine!" as they grab a toy or cookie, and recognize that what we grab-for might change as we grow older, but the selfish-inner-push never does.  

Jesus exemplified a life of how to step away from it.

And God gives us guidelines to finding harmony with others.  I have found each one of them to be rooted in humility.  Removing our selfish-aims tills the soil for unity and togetherness to bloom.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  ~Matthew 5:9

When we come before others in peace and seek peace in our exchanges with them, it disarms competition and selfishness, and it opens a door for connection, which paves the way to community.  

Lord, help us to come in peace today.  To whatever group or person that we come in contact with, let us come in peace to foster community and a glimpse of You.  Amen.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, (2) then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. (3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (4) not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (5) In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus... ~Philippians 2:1-5

These verses challenge us to acknowledge God's kindness, encouragement, and the open-arms He has welcomed us with, and to turn those gestures back out onto a world that has been raised fending for only themselves.

Because we have been loved by God and He has modeled peace and humility to us, we can be situation-changers/heart-changers/relationship-changers by doing-what-we-can with who-we-can to also make them feel loved by God, just as we are loved.

It is work for sure because humility does not come easy to any of us. But the fruit of peace-making is community, a functional family, a team or staff that wants to work together: and from there, we can go anywhere.

So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.  ~Romans 14:19

I appreciate the word "pursue" in this verse because (again), seeking/creating/fostering community and unity is work.  We have to decide to pursue it.  We have to ask God for guidance on making it happen in our circles, and then we have to put the time and love in to bring the harmony out.

Our daughter was part of a group with talented girls, but they shared no sense of community.  It is very difficult to achieve a common goal if there is no harmony.  And there is no unity when there is no peace amongst members.  When pride and self-promotion are the pillars, the house will not stand for long.  

Have you ever been a part of one of these circles?  Is a lack-of-harmony hammering your heart today?

But what can we do to pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another?  

In my daughter's case, she took some time to write individual notes of encouragement to the girls.  They were all great girls, but I think in the scrappiness-of-life's-fight, they had forgotten.  It is wildly empowering to remember how precious we are to God, and to then introduce that idea to others.  It changes things.  

And it did.

The culture of her group changed.  Almost immediately.  The notes were not mentioned, but hearts, words and attitudes were visibly and verbally softened toward one another, and a garden of harmony seemed to bloom almost overnight.  

We pursued what makes for peace and for building up one another, and God did the rest.  He always will.  

When love and peace stand up in the face of competition and selfishness, there is no question who will win.  Love always wins.  It is almost impossible to resist the love of God.  I know few people that have walked away unchanged from it.  

And when we walk toward God's love and peace, the result is unity, harmony, and being-in-sync-with-one-another.  It is lovely to gaze upon and even more lovely to be a part of.

Being a peacemaker is work for sure, but the rewards will be worth it.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com