Truth About Unity You Should Not Ignore By Joseph Akinrinola Every successful family, church, community, organization, and nation thrive on unity. Even nature gives us the best because all the elements work in unity. You understand what it means when we experience the eclipse of the sun. This is when nature obstructs its unity. Without mincing words, the Holy Trinity also operates by the law of unity. This was demonstrated in the baptism of Jesus, and the process of our salvation. (Matthew 3:1317, 28:19) To say the least, we are healthy only when our body parts work in unity. So, what is unity? Conflict arises when we can’t properly define what unity is. At times, our wrong understanding of this concept will lead to violating each other’s rights. It could also mean we will lose our right or privilege for the sake of unity. To Christians, there are times we compromise our faith, and by implication our eternity because we want to be at peace with others. Unity is the coming together of people from different backgrounds and opinions to achieve a common goal. (Amos 3:3) Let me run through some facts about unity, so you can enjoy your relationship anywhere you find yourself.
• Unity is everybody’s responsibility. (Matthew 18:19) No one achieves anything meaningful in isolation. Unity will be elusive if we expect only the leader or leaders to do it. Right, leaders must lead by example, yet no leader makes headway without the support of the followers, no matter how laudable his idea or dream may be. Jesus, God in man when he was on earth, could not be in more than one place at a time. This was why he recruited the disciples. The appointment of the disciples increased his outreach. In other words, unity divides the work but multiplies the output. So, name-calling or blame-shifting will never promote unity. To enjoy the dividend of unity, everyone must play his or her role. • Unity does not eliminate conflict. It is wrong to assume that because we preach or live in unity, conflict will not arise. In fact, the more diverse we are, the more likely we are to have conflict. If we understand human beings, we know we can’t avoid conflict. In a genuine sense, conflict is healthy if we handle our misunderstanding rightly. To the best of my knowledge, conflict reveals both the strong and the weak areas of our relationship. The more we come to terms with one another’s differences, the more we are likely to relate better. It is clear from Matthew 18:18 and Luke 17:1 that conflict is inevitable. So, get prepared for it as you seek for unity.
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