How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

When I read this Psalm I am reminded of last year when my 4 brothers, my sister and I spent 3 days together. There probably has never been a group who have a wider range of views and who are more opinionated than the six of us. Yet, we managed to spend the time together in perfect unity. After all, we are brothers and sisters. Too many times when people don’t (and can’t) agree they become disagreeable and cannot get along. It was Jesus who said that the world would know his disciple because they love one another. Paul said we are to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He did not say we are to create unity. God creates the unity when one comes to Christ and is added to his body of believers. This is not to say that what we believe is unimportant or that we can participate in anything that we believe to be wrong. We must study God’s word and reach our convictions and be true to them. Anything less than this is wrong. However, unity is most often an attitude toward others more than it is agreement.

There can be a disruption of unity, even when we agree on doctrine, if we allow our understanding to become the standard instead of God’s word, and then demand that everyone line up with us to have unity. We have then destroyed the oneness in Christ. This does not mean that I just ignore the differences with my brothers and sisters (physical or spiritual siblings) but we all continue to love one another as we study and discuss these differences. There is nothing more destructive to a church (or family) than having people who claim to be the family of God and yet cannot get along with each other. This bitterness is too often led by those who claim to be the spiritual leaders and done in the name of being faithful when in fact it is nothing short of self-willed stubbornness. Each of us will answer to God for our own understanding, our faith and our service to him. His word is truth and truth does not and cannot disagree with or deny itself. It must be our strongest desire to know the truth and live it but it must be done with a spirit of love, longsuffering, patience and genuine concern for each other.

O God, please fill me with your Spirit that I overflow with your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and with self-control. Give me wisdom to know your will and to live it each day. Help me to maintain the unity that you have created in Jesus. In his name I pray.
May God bless each of us as we strive to please him in every way.