“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6
As the body of Christ we are called to be likeminded with each other. Earlier in this study we learned how we are so different. How in the world are we to be likeminded if we are different? I believe it lies in these three principles:
- Be patient. God’s timing is not our timing. Our logic is not God’s logic. We are called to wait upon Him and trust Him. Each one of us are on a journey toward Jesus. We each will take different amounts of time in learning lessons. We can’t rush others on their journey simply because we have learned a lesson they might not have yet. God’s timing is not ours. Instead of push people, we can we can radiate Jesus’ love and patience toward them. We can gently love them and guide them as the Spirit leads. We are called to patience, not rushed attempts to “fix things”.
- According to Jesus. We must build our foundation on Jesus Christ. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and was taught the Bible my whole life. While I am extremely grateful for this, at times I can take for granted this gift. When I forget the true magnitude of the gospel because I have always known it, I can easily start trying to build my own house on my own foundation. I forget the importance of looking to Christ first since He has always been there. There is a hymn that goes “on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand”. We need to build on Him and do everything according to Him. Always submitting to His ways, not our own.
- Glorify God. God is good all the time. If our mouths begin to flow with negativity and perceived trouble, will we remember God is good? There is always a reason to praise God. As believers we need to encourage each other to praise God in everything–even if we don’t feel like it. We are to lift praises up to God with one mouth! We ALL can praise Jesus and find common ground on His goodness. Let’s never skip over our praises to Him while pursing our worries.
Living as one with each other doesn’t mean looking exactly the same and doing the same things. Life would be scary if we all looked exactly the same and did exactly the same things. Often, we find ourselves wishing for everyone to be like us, but in the process we forget the impossibility of that. We are called to look to Jesus and mirror His actions. When we give Him our hearts, He will grow us into the person we need to look like. In the learning and growing process we can wait patiently for Him to guide each one of us. We don’t have to figure it all out, we can instead run to Him. We will find freedom in Him. Let’s all be careful what we wish for and instead be diligent in our submission and surrender to Christ. In the process always striving to live a life that points others to Jesus!
