I was affectionately challenged to say the least, concerning our subject for this month's devotion – unity. The reason is the amount of “weight” that comes with acquiring unity, especially in all areas of our lives. For example for a country to prosper in all its dealings, it needs unity with all its alliances. For a community to live peaceably with anyone, upholding the laws of the land, it will need citizens to be united in the common vision of the governing authority. For a family to thrive and children to have a perpetual victory to overcome societal challenges and succeed in all they do, they will need to be united in heart and spirit. And last but not the least, for a marriage to become the real image and likeness of “one flesh” as God ordained it to be, a husband and a wife would need to be united as one in terms of decision-making. Isn’t it amazing that the word of the Lord solidifies this by saying, “Where there is unity the Lord commands a blessing” (Psalms 133:1,3).
Looking through the annals of history and the outcomes of every winning country, you can learn a thing or two concerning how each acquired unity. Likewise, the pursuit of unity was mostly wrought amid travesties, atrocities and wars. The history books show us that for everyone to fully acquire unity, it will always be in the middle of warfare or duress. The road to living in unity surely doesn't come easy and it shows there is a great opposition that should be driven out for unity to have its full manifestation. Many world leaders had to fight in order for them to have some form of unity in their countries and for them to come to trustworthy alliances with neighbouring nations. Unity came at a costly price because there was always pain that was plaguing the well-being of each country and for many to find the peace they needed, an individual had to rise and stand in the authority to nullify disunity. For many who dared to rise, there was much bloodshed that was experienced and much devastation that came as a result. But the reward that followed every battle was unity and a gained power to live with a common vision.
The Atlantic blog post performed a poll that recognised Abraham Lincoln to be the most unifying president to ever preside over the United State. The reason being, he led America at the pinnacle of its divisions – the Civil War. Many people never thought unity will ever be possible after such an extraordinary regime, but one man changed the cause of history by introducing the power of agreement. At the end of it all, Abraham will always be remembered in the history books as the president who succeeded in shepherding the United States to be an established one nation, all decreeing unity! From a historical perspective, there are nations upon nations that panted for unity, and with each victory, a terrible price was paid.
When you glance through the pages of the Word of God, you’ll also learn that it took war and bloodshed to acquire unity. This is also true with many of the people that God had assigned to complete the mission of His Kingdom. For unity to be realised, there was a heavy price to be paid by those who were seeking to see the will of God being done. In today's society, we may not be fighting a physical opponent like the early leaders or ancient believers. We may not be in the middle of a war field, but we all can attest somehow that we all had to fight a good fight of faith for us to live in unity. And surely we would always have to set our wills aside, in order to see the will of God manifest, in all areas of our lives and that of our environment.
David, the greatest leader anointed by God to lead Israel, had to go through bloodshed and wars for him to fully establish Israel as a great nation that God chose and marked to manifest his glory upon. He fought so many battles that God had to pardon him from building His Temple. His reign to be king and to acquire unity didn't come cheap either. It came at a costly price and because of those sacrifices at the place, his son, Solomon was blessed to enjoy the fruit of unity that his father David cultivated when he came to power (see 1 Chronicles 28).
These stories and testimonies of unity, remind us all of the remarkable and glorious story of the Lamb of God that was slain and his blood shed so that all humanity can come to unity with God (see Revelation 13:8; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29). The Bible authorises Jesus, the Son of God as the greatest unify of all times and there would never be another. For us to be recipients of this eternal unity, someone had to die in our place. His blood needed to cover us, in order for us to regain a right standing with God. This is the plan of God that He ordained for all humanity to live in unity with Him. For us to be able to settle this in our spirit, we need to acknowledge that carnal unity is only temporary. As wars and rumours of wars will always make their way into our daily news feed. But when we are in unity with God, loving what He loves and hating what He hates, we will live without any fear of war or divisions. We will prosper in the land and prosper in our households because we have the revelation that we are one in spirit with our Father.
Jesus prayed for unity among His disciples: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). The gospel invented unity of faith with our Father and also with our fellow believers and unbelievers alike (see Ephesians 4:13). If we can learn to live with these principles of faith concerning unity, we will never come to a point where there would be any wars, bloodshed, disagreements and divisions among us. We will know how to unite in love, in prayer and fellowship. The book of Colossians 3:12-13 urges us that we need to put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. The greatest commodity of unity is forgiveness. Let us, therefore, offer the very same token of forgiveness that we have received to others as well, in that way we would acquire Unity that commands God's blessings!
Yours in Unity
Mpho
Women of Reverence welcomes Mpho Thulo as our guest contributor.
Mpho Thulo is a wife, a mom, an author and a magazine columnist who writes for Christian magazines such as Lady Rose Magazine, MyFaith Magazine and Arise Magazine. She is a Link FM featured Inspirational Speaker on shows such as Reaching Higher with Bantu and The Lunch Box show with Mr K. Furthermore, Mpho often speaks at various Church conferences, Business networking programs and outreaches. She has contributed to the Faith Daily Devotional publication of Faith TV (DStv Channel 341) and often contributes as a blogger to a notable ministry called Women of Reverence. Mpho lectures at Faith Bible Institute, a full-time 3-Year Bible Training Centre designed to equip individuals in any area of the five-fold ministry. She is the co-founder of the Local Samaritan Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to reduce the plaque of suffering in her community and promote the heart of honouring those who are less fortunate through spiritual and material care.
Mpho's current mission is to continue to create content curated to share Biblical principles that are designed to transform and equip others to identify their callings and purposes for their lives. She aspires to continue writing articles and books that will resemble the lives of women and men who have overcome extreme difficulties to fulfil their God-given dreams and the power to break all manner of limitations.
Her greatest and most important ministry, as she likes to allude to people close to her is loving God and spending significant time with her husband John together with their children. A day well spent with her means having a good journaling time accompanied by a delectable coffee.