We are a family of five. A family of five packed with lots of personality. There is never a dull moment in our home. It's lively. Feisty. Colorful. Passionate and Diverse. Naturally, with all this passion and diversity comes an awful lot of disagreement (you can only imagine). Our more recent family verse could not have been more appropriate.
This scripture prompted some interesting dialogue. "What does unity in our family look like?" "What if we made every effort at working it out, and making it work with each other?" "What does it mean to be held together with the bond of peace?"
We set our goals. We thought, each one of us, of what it would take to "make every effort".
We are going on week #2 with these goals. We are learning. Unity takes time. I figure, if God isn't finished with me yet, refining and chipping away at the rough character issues in my life, then we can take another week to focus on "speaking with a calm voice," "using words like 'please' and 'thank you'," and "no poking, no whining...".
I love the way Joel expressed our need for this verse in our family to our children. He explained that this is the way God desires for all of us Christians to treat and behave with one another. We get to practice this in our home so we will know how to treat our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This summer we are working it out, and making it work. We are making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace...and a whole lot of love too!
