Trees Need Each Other Love One Another
- Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. - Ephesians 4:15-16
My wife and I were in Great Britain on a preaching tour shortly after a violent windstorm had swept the land, flattening more than a million trees. An official investigation discovered that the trees had been planted just far enough apart that their roots were not intertwined with each other. Each tree stood alone, with no help from the tree next to it, and over a million were lost.
When we as Christians become estranged from each other, the whole church is weakened and becomes more vulnerable to the attacks of Satan. The only way we can stay together is to be constantly involved in the process of being reconciled to each other.
Reconciliation involves confession, forgiveness, and restoration. We need each other; we need the binding of heart to heart, from which we gain strength; we need to experience the love of Christ through the concern and prayers of our brothers and sisters in the faith.
The process of being reconciled is a lot like digging up an old minefield. When anger, bitterness, and hatred are buried inside us, they keep exploding and injuring others. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy... Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:7,9).
Is there someone you need to be reconciled with today? Is there a long-buried spiritual mine you need to dig up and defuse before it injures someone? We need each other. Alone, we are as vulnerable as those trees in England. But standing together, we are strong in fellowship and love.
Prayer
Lord, help me to live in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ and to keep no account of wrongs against me. Amen.
To Ponder
To understand the importance God places on unity between believers, read His instruction in Matthew 5:23-24.
The text for this devotional comes from the NavPress book Daily Discipleship, which features devotionals taken from radio broadcasts by long-time Navigator LeRoy Eims. For more information or to order a copy, visit the NavPress website.
7:06:36 AM 
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