Together
And all who believed were together and had all things in common – Acts 2:44
Sometimes these words seem difficult to believe. Surely, Luke was using hyperbole when he wrote that. It feels so far away from many of our experiences today. We see the world fractured. We see friendships end over silly, stupid things. We see the church argue about the trivial and split. We see families divide over an inability to resolve hurt feelings. Division has become the habit of modern life.
Working through the tough aspects of relationship with others is life building not destroying. There are obviously some exceptions to this. Sometimes people are maliciously destructive, but for most of us we would rather walk away from something than to make it better. Solving division often does not restore what once was, but it creates something new and better.
Helping things be better requires a sort of conversion. We must sacrifice our dignity, lay down our pride, and seek the holy and divine in every situation. This requires much introspection and honesty, real honesty.
We struggle to look inward because we must then take responsibility for our actions and behaviors, but if we are to fulfill the words spoken of the early church above, we need to reorder our lives. We need to commit our ways and focus on the Lord. Imagine a large group of people completely focused on Christ. What would that look like? The change starts with you.
What gets in the way of your focus on Christ? Do you know how to focus on Christ in your daily life? How does focusing on Christ change the way you enter into conflict?
Sometimes these words seem difficult to believe. Surely, Luke was using hyperbole when he wrote that. It feels so far away from many of our experiences today. We see the world fractured. We see friendships end over silly, stupid things. We see the church argue about the trivial and split. We see families divide over an inability to resolve hurt feelings. Division has become the habit of modern life.
Working through the tough aspects of relationship with others is life building not destroying. There are obviously some exceptions to this. Sometimes people are maliciously destructive, but for most of us we would rather walk away from something than to make it better. Solving division often does not restore what once was, but it creates something new and better.
Helping things be better requires a sort of conversion. We must sacrifice our dignity, lay down our pride, and seek the holy and divine in every situation. This requires much introspection and honesty, real honesty.
We struggle to look inward because we must then take responsibility for our actions and behaviors, but if we are to fulfill the words spoken of the early church above, we need to reorder our lives. We need to commit our ways and focus on the Lord. Imagine a large group of people completely focused on Christ. What would that look like? The change starts with you.
What gets in the way of your focus on Christ? Do you know how to focus on Christ in your daily life? How does focusing on Christ change the way you enter into conflict?
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