New Hope Diamond Head Staff Daily Devotions & Journal Blog: BUILDING BRIDGES. By Pastor Fernando

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

BUILDING BRIDGES. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE
⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:5-6

OBSERVATION
In the context, Paul wants to make sure that relationships among brothers and sisters in the church are thriving and are not affected by differences of opinion in non-essential matters. The people in the church in Rome needed a message about preserving unity. Regardless of difference of style, they all could have one heart and one mouth to worship the Lord. They were making a big deal of small things, not realizing that it was causing division. Paul's sobering instruction instructs them to focus in the essentials and to grow together in their devotion for God.

APPLICATION
One of the saddest things I've seen in the church is the division that differences of opinion create when people prioritize dogma over love. I love a quote that has been attributed to St. Augustine tha says, "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity (love)." The problem is that many times we make non-essentials the essentials. We use our personal convictions as an opportunity to grow apart. We sacrifice unity for being right. But at the end, we result being wrong, very wrong.

As I grow in my call to lead the church, I need to have much wisdom to always be a bridge builder, not a wall builder. I want to help people to get along, but also I need to get along with those who have differences of opinion with me. The tendency is to walk away and hide from them because we are afraid of their judgment, or of their attempts to convince us of their positions. I'm sure God's calling in my life is greater than that. Building bridges, especially among people that believe in Jesus Christ as God, Lord and Savior, is a noble task worth while to pursuit.

PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, please help me to always think and act as a bridge builder. Give me endurance and encouragement to build a spirit of unity among the church and other churches. Amen!