Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Theme of the week -- Harmony!

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8, 9 NIV84)


God continues to speak to me. It appears he has a theme for me the past couple of days. I am drowning in the "ABSENCE OF HARMONY". I am sure it pains God to see that we can't live in harmony with each other. We don't love as brothers. I have 3 brothers. As we grew up, we did a lot together. When we were at home, privately, we would argue, fight, tease, and torment. Even as adults, we have had some HUGE disagreements over politics, sports, cheating on board games, and numerous other silly topics. That was all done privately. No one outside the family ever could sense the battles. Once we stepped out the door of the house, we were one. We support each other through thick or thin. If you challenged one of us, you challenged all of us. The battles behind closed doors made us better. Those debates and trials made us who we are today.

Why can't life be like that. I know this sounds a lot like yesterday. I just can't get it off my mind. Good Athletic teams are the same way. The most successful teams I've been a part of were those teams who come together to fight a common opponent. They could pull together when challenged and they always were there for each other. Nearly all athletic teams face some type of internal strife. The good ones use that strife to make themselves better. The bad teams let it tear them apart. This could be true at work or in a church. Internal strife is going to occur at work and sometimes in a church, just like it does at home. Are we gong to let it tear us apart or are we going to use it to make us better. The choice is ours.

We need to love each other as brothers. We need to be compassionate and humble. We need to keep from paying evil with evil, or insult with insult. Harmony is a valuable goal. It takes work and patience. Sometimes we need the spirit of the Lord to intervene because we can't do it on our own.

Do you want to be BLESSED?  Strive for HARMONY and UNITY! 

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