It’s a wonderful thing when brothers and sisters are living in peace with each other. Fighting and quarreling never built anything.

Anger may unite people to some degree to achieve some goal but it won’t be building anything. Rather breaking down. Unity in love is the force that cannot be stopped.

There are a lot of differences in the Church and not everyone gets along with each other. There are disagreements, yet we are called for unity. Apostle Paul in the letter to Ephesians puts a lot of emphasis on unity.

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1–3, NKJV).

Unity is our calling that can only be reached if we walk in humility, patience, and love. It doesn't happen automatically without our effort. Our lowliness is the necessary glue that sticks to the humility of someone else.

Unity in love is a force that cannot be stopped.

Unity in itself shows the possibility of disagreement

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4–6, ERV).

There is a clear unity in God and the way we relate to Him. We are one body that is made up of many individuals. Nevertheless, God is the One who binds everything together giving us one hope and one faith in Jesus.

But…

“…to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (Ephesians 4:7, NKJV).

This comparison shows that even if we have one faith, God doesn’t remove our uniqueness in the Body of Christ. Everyone gets a specific gift for service in the Church.

We’re in need of unity because nobody can do everything. Of course, God is able to give the grace to do much more for those in extreme circumstances when there is no possibility to have a team of Christians. However, under normal circumstances, God distributes gifts to everyone to lighten the load.

Paul continues the letter to the Ephesians explaining that God gave gifts to men to equip the saints to the work of the ministry. We need each other to accomplish the goal of the service as Christians on this earth which is the ministry of reconciliation.

It would be an amazing example to the world if different groups of believers in Christ are working together using their own giftings to reach as many people as possible. A place where our differences become our strength to reach wider and deeper than ever possible in isolation individually.

I believe it blesses God when we lay down our opinion for the sake of love for one another.

Of course, it’s easier if the other person agrees with the basic doctrine of our faith. As much as there is the exhortation to stay in unity, there is also a warning not to slide away from the truth. Nevertheless, a lot of discussions are about things that don’t really matter.

Let love and humility shine through

I was practicing some worship songs with a good friend of mine. At some point, a disagreement emerged on the pronunciation of one word. I decided to take my friend's position because it doesn't change the theology in the end and — who knows — maybe I was actually wrong.

After some time I stumbled upon that song in my playlist while listening to the music. My blood started boiling because I was right about that word! I started to map different scenarios in my mind about how I’m going to let her know that I was right. I was stopped by that still small voice in my heart that asked: “what will you win by proving you’re right?”

The question opened my eyes. My righteousness would not contribute to building the friendship nor would it help to focus on God during that particular worship song.

It would speak to me about being right above someone else. Eventually, we would end up skipping that song or even hurting the friendship. Definitely, not worth it!

Maturity is seen in love and humility, not in the ability to spot every mistake of someone else.

As I decided to be quiet about this discovery, I felt an overwhelming sense of the love of God. I knew I acted right. Thanks to God for giving us wisdom!

“Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together as one! It is like the sweet-smelling oil that is poured over the high priest’s head, that runs down his beard flowing over his robes. It is like a gentle rain from Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion. It is there that the Lord has promised his blessing of eternal life.” (Psalms 133:1–3, ERV).

All said and done, we are not able to be satisfied with being right. It’s not about winning the argument but about loving.

It’s impossible to avoid differences, but we can choose how to react when a disagreement arises. There is so much beauty, so many opportunities to learn, and strength in being diverse. What’s the point of being right in logic while missing the life of love that shows the true knowledge of God?