Cultivating Unity

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
– Ephesians 4:3 –

Let us cultivate everything that would tend toward unity. Are any sick? Let us care for them. Are any suffering? Let us weep with them. Do we know people who are less loved than others? Then let us have more love for them in order to make up this deficiency. Do we perceive faults in our brothers and sisters? Let us admonish them in love and affection. I pray for you to be peacemakers, every­one…

Let us remember that we cannot keep the unity of the Spirit unless we all believe the truth of God. Let us search our Bibles, therefore, and conform our views and sentiments to the teaching of God’s Word. I have already told you that unity in error is unity in ruin. We want unity in the truth of God through the Spirit of God.

Let us seek to live close to Christ, for this is the best way of promoting unity. Divisions in churches never begin with those full of love for the Savior. Cold hearts, unholy lives, inconsistent actions, neglected prayer closets—these are the seeds that sow divisions in the body. But those who live near to Jesus, who wear His likeness and copy His example, will be, wherever they go, a sacred bond, a holy link to bind the church more closely together than ever. May God give us this, and from this point forward let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

From Spurgeon on Unity, p. 39–40