14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
“If we focus on our differences, our focus is on each other. If we focus on unity, our focus is on God.” Anonymous
“Let us note how far from satisfactory is the state of those who are content with sound doctrinal opinions, and orthodox correct views of the Gospel, while in their daily life they give way to ill-temper, ill-nature, malice, envy, quarrelling, squabbling, bickering, surliness, passion, snappish language, and crossness of word and manner. Such persons, whether they know it or not, are daily proclaiming that they are not Christ’s disciples. It is nonsense to talk about justification, and regeneration, and election, and conversion, and the uselessness of works, unless people can see in us practical Christian love.” John Charles Ryle
“Authentic Christian love is exhibited through labor. What kind of labor? The labor of sacrificing. The labor of forgiving. The labor of persevering. The labor of stretching oneself out to the very limits of endurance in service to God and others. Any so-called ‘love’ that does not labor is mere sentimentality.” Michael Youssef
“Whether the offenses against us are titanic or trifling, God’s judgment frees us to exchange bitterness for patience, retribution for mercy. The very word judgment brings to mind our own offenses against God, offenses that cried out for our blood until Jesus shed his own. It reminds us that our offender, if outside of Christ, deserves our pity and, if inside Christ, needs our brotherly love. It removes all self-righteousness from our mouths and replaces it with the Christlike plea of ‘Lord, forgive them.’ It beckons us to release our ‘right’ to get even, and to hand over our cause to him who judges justly.” Scott Hubbard
Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s gravestone reads: “Died in the 30th year of his age and the 7th year of his ministry, walking closely with God, an example for the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, he ceased not day and night to labor and watch for souls.”
“Love one another that it may at last be said of Christians as it was at first: ‘Behold how they love one another.’” Ralph Venning
“Have you ever thought about what a net is? It is a bunch of holes tied together. Do you know what a hole is? It’s ‘a nothing.’ And that is exactly what we are – ‘a bunch of nothings.’ But, if you take ‘a bunch of nothings’ and tie them together, they become powerful. Just as a net is woven and interlaced, people are netted and tied together with other people resulting in tremendous power. Woven together in the unity of the Spirit, we accomplish far more than any single individual could do by himself. There is power in cooperation. You do much better fishing by net than with a hook and line. Together we join hands and work the works God would have us to do.” Wales Goebel
“Let us love one another deeply. May the Love of Christ overflow from our hearts. May people who are around us and see us know that we are Christians by our love. May our countenance, our faces display Christian Love.” Roger Killian
“Among believers in the Lord Jesus, there is to me unity in the essentials, charity in the nonessentials.” Anonymous
“Jesus’ whole life was a witness to his Father's love, and Jesus calls his followers to carry on that witness in his Name. We, as followers of Jesus, are sent into this world to be visible signs of God's unconditional love. Thus we are not first of all judged by what we say but by what we live. When people say of us: ‘See how they love one another,’ they catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced and are drawn to it as by a magnet. In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.” Henri Nouwen
“Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.” C. S. Lewis