Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:3 – 6

Unity between believers is extremely important. It is a task, humanly speaking, that seems impossible.  Yet we know that it is what we should strive for.  How is that possible because people are individuals, with bewildering variety and differences, and groups do not like to give up their feelings of superiority over others?  It is clear that no ethnic group or nation fully expresses this unity.

Christ’s body absorbs all kinds of people!  Even me and you.  The secret is to know and love Jesus Christ. That love binds us together into a new humanity, otherwise unknown on the earth. As I think of it, what would it be like if every believer in Jesus Christ loved all other believers, individually and collectively?  It stretches the imagination.  We see so much division and competition that it is hard to even imagine a church that encircles the earth full of people of all cultures who truly love one another, not just in word but in actual life.  That is the will of God and if he is in us to do it, why do we look so scattered?

The unity that we do have is not of our own making but is a gift of God, received when we believe.  So, Paul says, keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.   It is a gift of God, pure and simple.  It is not a man-made unity, but the unity of the Spirit.  We get it from God!  Now Paul says, Keep it.