Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #16: Conflict
"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”—John 17:20-21
The greatest evangelistic tool at the church’s disposal is unity. When we are unified, a watching world takes notice and sees Christ. Jesus prayed that all who came to know Christ through the apostles’ testimony would be unified. The purpose for unity is so that “the world may believe.” This unity is a supernatural unity that comes through our being transformed. We have been transformed from our old way of life. Paul writes that we “were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”—Titus 3:3.
We were hated by others and hated one another, but in Christ, we have been transformed. The old ways of life that characterized us: gossip, envy, hostility, and racism are to be no longer. For in Christ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”—Galatians 3:28.
We are new creatures with new desires. We have a new relationship with God and with others. And as believers in Christ, we are no longer living in hostility with others—especially with those within the church. We are to “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding”—Romans 14:19. And, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”—Romans 12:18. Why? So “the world may believe.”
When we are unified, the world sees Christ in a powerful and attractive way. But, whenever we fail to exhibit unity, the name of Christ is sullied and people are turned away from Him. Satan’s goal is to keep us from being unified, by promoting conflict and turning us against one another. We must be on guard against his schemes by pursuing unity with other brother and sisters. Which means that we need to seek forgiveness, or grant it, seek reconciliation, or restitution. Whenever we pursue this type of unity, in the face of conflict, a watching world takes notice and wants to know the Christ we worship. Let us not give in to the enemy’s deceptions by remaining in conflict and disunity; rather may we pursue unity so that others may believe. Amen.
The greatest evangelistic tool at the church’s disposal is unity. When we are unified, a watching world takes notice and sees Christ. Jesus prayed that all who came to know Christ through the apostles’ testimony would be unified. The purpose for unity is so that “the world may believe.” This unity is a supernatural unity that comes through our being transformed. We have been transformed from our old way of life. Paul writes that we “were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”—Titus 3:3.
We were hated by others and hated one another, but in Christ, we have been transformed. The old ways of life that characterized us: gossip, envy, hostility, and racism are to be no longer. For in Christ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”—Galatians 3:28.
We are new creatures with new desires. We have a new relationship with God and with others. And as believers in Christ, we are no longer living in hostility with others—especially with those within the church. We are to “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding”—Romans 14:19. And, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”—Romans 12:18. Why? So “the world may believe.”
When we are unified, the world sees Christ in a powerful and attractive way. But, whenever we fail to exhibit unity, the name of Christ is sullied and people are turned away from Him. Satan’s goal is to keep us from being unified, by promoting conflict and turning us against one another. We must be on guard against his schemes by pursuing unity with other brother and sisters. Which means that we need to seek forgiveness, or grant it, seek reconciliation, or restitution. Whenever we pursue this type of unity, in the face of conflict, a watching world takes notice and wants to know the Christ we worship. Let us not give in to the enemy’s deceptions by remaining in conflict and disunity; rather may we pursue unity so that others may believe. Amen.
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