From my reading in Ephesians 4 in the One Year Bible New Testament.
1. Be humble.
Always be humble… Ephesians 4:2
Unity requires humility. A humble person is willing to sacrifice their ego and desires for the sake of the group.
2. Be Gentle.
… and gentle… Ephesians 4:2
A gentle person as a way of calming those around them. They have the ability to deal with hard situations in a graceful way. Inevitably there will be conflict within the Church. A gentle person will know the right way to deal with it.
3. Be Patient.
…Be patient with each other… Ephesians 4:2
A patient person keeps calm even when those around them are being irritating.
4. Be understanding.
…making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2
People are sinful and will let you down. Knowing that fact will help your be understanding when they do. Don’t expect perfection from your church family because you will be disappointed.
5. Work hard for peace.
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Ephesians 4:3
Unity and peace take hard work. You must be willing to put in the effort to make unity really happen.
6. Celebrate each other’s unique gifts.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. Ephesians 4:7
Each person should faithfully use the gifts they have been given, while at the same time celebrating the gifts of others. Problems come when a person with one gift looks down on others who do not exhibit the same gift they have.
7. Follow those with leadership gifts.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11–12
God has given people with leadership gifts to the Church in order to equip the members to do the work of the ministry. Someone who is promoting unity in the church will follow spiritual leadership within the limits of scripture.
8. Speak the truth in love.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15
There will be times that you will need to say hard things to someone. It is important to do this in a loving way. As you do this with one another God will help you grow and will unite you as a group.
Which of these things do you need to apply today?
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