I attend a lovely church but I was unable to attend one Sunday yet one of my staff members attended and with his attendance he brought back a powerful story and message that was told in five words.
I love this particular staff member dearly, and while he is the whimsical opposite of myself in almost every way imaginable, the Holy Spirit has faithfully used him in my life time and time again to bring new truth and challenges into my world.
This Monday after he attended church provided one of those sweet moments. He sat down next to me and pulled out this folded and rather crinkled half of the church’s weekly information card.
He pushed it my way and said, “I think what this says is really important.”
Unity…
“This is what unity is NOT, unity does not mean sameness, it means oneness of purpose.” Priscilla Shirer
When I was younger I found myself at moments under the illusion that unity must mean that everyone must be standing on common ground in every way with their thoughts and desires, and this often caused mountains of frustration.
I have come to see that unity means that those walking with you in a journey don’t have to be wearing the exact same shoes, they simply need to be beside you and continue walking.
Unity simply means that all who are involved have a desire for a specific end result to be accomplished and in that people find common ground and common purpose.
Required…
A lot of people would reach the word required and quickly find offense. Offense can often come quickly when we don’t believe that in unity is an important thing in any setting.
Unity truly is a must in the desire to create something great.
People must come together and walk alongside one another in order to be successful…
We were created to need one another.
In light of this, we were created for unity.
Expensive…
This word impacted me more than the others.
It struck me the second I looked at the paper and it reached deep down in my heart and soul and touched a place of understanding, conviction, and deep knowledge of responsibility.
This word tends to describe the use of currency and the purchase of a material item. People say it a lot in everyday conversation. We make statements such as, “I would love to have that but it is super expensive or Tim just bought that, it is really expensive. ” The word expensive is usually implied in regards to something we long for and yet can’t have because of it’s cost.
But what if we looked at a different form of currency?
What if the currency is time, energy, emotional investment, belief in all that one can be, trust and the most valuable of all, love and what you spend it on is getting all the same in return.
This currency changes the word expensive in every way.
This currency makes a transaction deeper than anything that happens between a business and a patron. The use of this currency purchases something that can never be taken.
It purchases relationship.
Relationship is the very soil that will nourish and cultivate unity.
Even if relationship is broken or ends the season of investment, time, and love can never be changed or taken away.
Unity must have trust as a main component to thrive and trust is built in relationship.
Relationship always takes risk.
Relationship always takes time.
Relationship always takes investment.
Relationship always takes love.
Relationship is always expensive.
Relationship is always…
Worth it.
Unity it always worth it.