“The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.”
Unity is more than just being on the same page. Living and growing in unity takes time and intention. Just recently, I have been studying the book of Acts, and I have seen unity being a consistent, interwoven theme throughout the chapters. Miracles, divine encounters, inspiration, and passion birthed out of a place of everyone being in one accord and one place. There unity manifested in supporting one another, finding needs and meeting them.
This culture of selflessness in Acts became a beacon of light that revealed the absence of light in my own. I began to look at my life and saw that I hang tight to possessions, time, and wealth. I give out of convenience not out of selflessness. Growing up in Southern California as a 25 year old female in 2017, there is a pressure to be successful, to have it all together, to look beautiful and fit, to be happy ALL the time. Our minds are on how we are feeling, what we look like, how others perceive us. How do we even have the capacity in our souls to have time to think about what others are going through? We are full of ourselves, spilling over - our negativity, apathy, boredom on others at times.
I began to realize that I am consumed with me, my plans, my agenda, my fitness plan, my meal plan, my job, my ministry, my marriage. God brought me to a place where I began to see my life from a mirror, and I began to see how lonely this way of living really is. I want to live a life where "grace is on all of [us]" where we can see tangible evidence of God's love moving and thriving in our lives (Acts 4:33 MSG).
It does not begin with us; it begins with them, and it ends with us.
We need to redeem the word unity and make it more about other people and less about ourselves, putting others first and ourselves second for a change.
How can we selflessly serve others with our time, resources, money, effort, a listening ear? How do we get to a place and a capacity in our hearts, schedules, and time, to be available for others to give in an authentic way?
Honestly, we make the time and create the place.
We make room in our hearts by getting over ourselves by saying our wants and needs for that moment can wait.
We rearrange our schedules to make time, so we can be available to give.
Being in one heart and one mind in a marriage, a friendship, a church will take time, and it will take everyone creating this new culture of selflessness, but that does not mean we need to wait for everyone else to jump in to make it a norm. Let's begin this new way of living now, so we can see God's love move in more tangible ways.
“34-35 Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”
Love was not meant to be easy all the time. Love is a sacrifice.
Love beckons us today to strive to be one in heart, one in mind.
Weekly Challenge:
1) What is a way that you can be in one heart and one mind with others?
2) What are tangible ways that you can give that goes beyond convenience?
3) What is the area that is really hard for you to give from? Examples: Finances, time, resources. Surrender this area to God and strive to give selflessly out of this area this week.