And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:14 NIV
Perfect Unity
Unity, United Progressive Movement and United Reform were the names used in Canada by a popular front party initiated by the Communist Party of Canada in the late 1930s. Two of the movement’s members, Dorise Nielsen and Walter George Brown, were elected to the federal House of Commons in the 1940 Canadian election and two United Progressives, Alan Carl Stewart and Herman Kersler Warren, were elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 1938 provincial election.
***
Human beings long for unity. Far too often we read about or personally experience the pain brought about by conflict and disagreement. We long for a world in which people get along with each other. The challenge, of course, is that our sinful nature leads to selfish desires, and this too often brings about conflict. This can divide families, churches, even nations. Is there any hope? Listen to the practical advice that Paul gives to followers of Jesus in Colossians 3:14: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Only the love of Jesus can bring about the unity for which we long. It is agape love, the other-focused, no-strings-attached love that is God’s nature. We are called to love others as God loved us – and He loved us, and continues to love us, in spite of our sin and selfishness. We are called to love others in just the same way. It isn’t always easy – some people are not easy to love. But neither are we, sometimes, but God continues to love us. As we love others with Jesus-like love we will find we are bound together in unity. It is up to us.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley