December 29, 2004
Incompatible?
Read: 1 Peter 3:8-17
All of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous. —1 Peter 3:8
Bible In One Year: Zechariah 9-12; Revelation 20
A quote in Sports Illustrated magazine expresses a truth that we as people of faith sometimes neglect: "What counts most in creating a successful team is not how compatible its players are, but how they deal with incompatibility." When we don't get along with others, we are tempted to ignore them and shove them aside.
God calls us to take a different approach: "All of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this" (1 Peter 3:8-9).
Oswald Chambers reminds us in My Utmost For His Highest: "In the spiritual life, beware of walking according to natural affinities. Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like and others we do not like. We must never let those likes and dislikes rule in our Christian life. If we 'walk in the light,' as God is in the light, God will give us communion with people for whom we have no natural affinity."
It is natural to have likes and dislikes. But when we seek to honor the Lord in our relationships, compassion, love, humility, and kindness are the God-ordered, supernatural steps in dealing with incompatibility. —David McCasland
Who would destroy the life
Of Jesus' precious bride, the church,
Through worldliness and strife. —Sper
The way to preserve the peace of the church is to promote the unity of it.