Peace within His Walls

We will need the Lord’s daily grace to fulfill the Father’s will that we as disciples will be one as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:11). What an incredibly high standard of unity that is! It will involve putting other Christians’ interests above our own and considering that we may be wrong even about dearly held theological concepts. It will mean allowing the Lord’s steadfast love to fill us, taking priority over our being right. It will mean that if anyone has something against us, even if in fact it is that person’s fault, we will try sincerely to put it right with them. This takes priority over any other seemingly pressing Christian duty (Matthew 5:23-24).

As I know in my own life, this takes a great deal of self-control. However, unity does depend on the walls being built up by exercising this self-control. The book of Proverbs says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control” (25:28). And the brokenness of our own walls will impact the defenses of other believers.