September 21 – Unity of Faith
Dear Marisa,
«And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.»
(Ephesians 4:11-13)
Till we all come in the unity of the faith. What this scripture means is simply this: If we’re ever going to become truly powerful in the kingdom of God, if we’re ever going to be any great threat to the devil, we’re going to have to grow up–together.
It won’t be enough for just a few of us to grow up on our own and say, «Too bad» about everybody else. It doesn’t work that way. We’re a part of each other. The Bible calls us one body…the Body of Christ.
Let me give you an example. When I began teaching God’s revelation on the laws of prosperity, I started getting incredible flack. Preachers started calling me and chewing me out because I wouldn’t borrow money and things like that. Finally God said to me one day in prayer, «Don’t teach on the laws of prosperity any more until I tell you to.»
«Why not?» I asked.
«There’s strife in the camp,» He told me. «Other preachers are mad at you and in strife over it.»
I didn’t realize then that the level where we stopped would affect us all. I didn’t realize that even I wouldn’t be able to go on and operate in the additional laws of prosperity until the rest of the Body would go with me.
We’re not islands unto ourselves. I can’t do anything without affecting you. You can’t do anything without affecting me. We’re joined together by God but held together by one another (Eph. 4:16). We can only grow up…together!
Learn to walk in love. Refuse to fall prey to division and isolation. Feed on the Word daily and encourage your brothers and sisters by feeding it to them too, so we can all grow up to be «a perfect [or mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.»
