Unity in Christ

The topic of this blog is unity in Christ. I didn't really understand that would be the topic until just now. The main idea is that we are all on the same team (pardon the metaphor) because of Christ.

My views on two specific things brought about this topic and showed me its truth.

First, I read a friend's post where she talked about what it feels like to not get recognition for something and how it's easy to compare ourselves to others who receive that recognition. I mean, we've all been there, right? We do something really well, but someone else gets commended for doing the same thing....and we think, "What the crap? What about me? I did that too!"

Second, I was basically told I wasn't doing a very good job at something a couple weeks ago, and I didn't have the best attitude about it. I wasn't completely mad and defensive, but I definitely wasn't seeing it through the proper perspective. The topic was outreach, and how I've lost focus on reaching out to people who don't know God yet. After having some time to process all this, I realized that I was being called out on it because I could be doing a better job, not because someone thinks I'm a failure or something.

In both of these, the problem stems from our pride. We want people to think we are good. But the Bible paints a different picture of what our desire should be: our desire should be that God gets the glory and recognition.

So now, the situation goes from envy that someone else gets the glory to joy that the glory is really going to God. The other situation goes from someone thinking I suck to someone showing me how I can better glorify God through my life. The person getting recognition and giving it to God is accomplishing our common goal of glorifying God. The person calling me out is helping the cause of Christ by helping me see my faults and do better.

The main point is that we are on the same side, working for the same things, serving the same Master, unifying us to do the work of God on this earth. We need to not take things so personally, and see that what matters is Christ, and not how good people think we are. We don't have to be good at everything....because God uses weak being like us and receives the glory from it.