| Our verse to DATE the Word on November 17 (11/17) is Luke 11:17 |
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| Luke 11:17 says, “But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.” |
DIVISION = DESOLATION Whether it is a family or an organization or a team or a church, etc. unity is essential for success. I believe it was from Dr. John Maxwell that I first heard the concept, “WORKING TOGETHER PERCEDES WINNING TOGETHER.” For years it has been said TEAM stands for TOGETHER EACH ACCOMPLISHES MORE. The military tells us there has to be UNITY IN THE UNIT! From the teaching of Jesus in Luke 11:17, we must learn and understand the DANGER OF DIVISION for it leads to DESOLATION and DESTRUCTION. Without going into a full discipleship lesson on unity it is worth considering one of the root causes of division which is PRIDE. Notice a few verses: Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom. As I deal with conflicts I ask the question, “Who is displaying pride?” Who wants to have it THEIR WAY? You probably can think of a time that someone brought division to a team because of THEIR pride. And you probably can think of a time that YOU brought division to a team because of YOUR pride. In working to bring about unity there are a couple of quotes I like to use. Dr. Maxwell taught the 101% rule saying find the 1% you do agree on and give that 100%. I am not sure if he got this from studying Philippians 4:2. In Philippians 4:2 Paul implored “Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” The 1% was they were both IN THE LORD so they now needed to give 100% to both being in the Lord. Steven Covey taught that we should SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE SEEKING TO BE UNDERSTOOD. (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.) Not sure if Mr. Covey was drawing from Phillipians 2:3-4 or not but the idea of looking out for the interest of others is clearly taught by the Apostle Paul and taught for bringing about unity. Philippians 2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, (PRIDE) but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Friends, we are ALL different and we have differences and we have differences of opinions. What we must guard against is allowing those differences to divide us to the point we destroy each other. Growing in maturity means learning to disagree agreeably. I have many friendships in which we have decided to agree to disagree. Verse to DATE the Word on November 17 (11/17) is Luke 11:17. It says, “But He (JESUS) knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.“ Know the DANGER OF DIVISION for it leads to DESOLATION and DESTRUCTION. Continue Strong seeking unity in whatever unit you are in! And remember to DATE THE WORD!! |