Bible Verse of the Day Tuesday December 14th 2021

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

In this verse, the Apostle Peter encourages all children of God to be on one mind, likeminded. This harmony is critical because, as children of God, we are all on the same team, particularly members of a specific Body of Christ, a local church. Any team will crumble when the players do not share the same goals and work from the same playbook. The problem arises when people want to interpret the playbook (The Word of God) in their own opinion instead of what God intended it to be. The Bible will interpret itself, which is the way God intended it. We cannot take a specific verse from the Bible and read into it something that is not there. The Word of God is a complete work; it is not a series of rules and regulations for individual analysis.

There are many prayers from Jesus in the Bible, but in one specific prayer, He asks the Father that His followers may be as one as He and the Father are one (John 17:22-23). Jesus wanted this unity between His followers and believers so that the world would know that the Father sent the Son and loves all, the same way the Father loves the Son (John 17:21 & 23). In Paul's Letter to the Romans, we can find another important reason we should be of one mind as followers of Christ Jesus (Romans 15:5-6). The only way we will reflect the true love of Christ Jesus to the world is if we are all teaching the same things. God is not the God of confusion; however, when we all advocate different teaching from the same source, the Word of God, the world's lost will be confused. Our objective is to draw people to Christ Jesus without turning them away with perplexity and puzzlement. 

Being of one mind in no way indicates that we should extinguish all differences between the many denominations. Followers of Christ can hold differing Biblical convictions while sustaining unity and demonstrating love for Christ Jesus and other followers and believers in Christ. Jesus is the only uniting force, and God's Holy Word must convict us in the avenues upon which we may not be representing Christ Jesus in the way we should.

Being the best team for Jesus that we should be does not come naturally; it takes placing our faith and trust in Christ and surrendering our personal feelings and beliefs to God. However, being unified in God as one will renovate us in how we interact with other people and reflect the light of Christ Jesus to the world.