Unity Isn’t Easy—It’s Impossible

Read The Daily:
“Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.” – John 17:11

Let’s just be real—unity isn’t just hard, it feels impossible. People are messy. Opinions clash. Personalities conflict. And if we’re honest, most of us would rather be “right” than be “one.” I’ve seen it in my own life—moments where people I was close to pulled away from each other, not because of a major fight, but because of small offenses that stacked up like boards between us. It was as simple as forgetting something that was mentioned. Someone didn’t reach out or a joke turned bad. It started creating distance. And just like that, unity was lost—not with a bang, but with a slow fade.

And that’s exactly why Jesus prayed for it. Because He knew unity wouldn’t come naturally. He didn’t ask the Father to make us nice, or safe, or even agreeable—He asked for oneness. And the crazy part? He didn’t pray that we’d all think, look, or act the same. He prayed that we’d be united as He and the Father are united. That kind of unity doesn’t happen through willpower or personality—it only happens through Jesus. It’s not about trying harder to get along. It’s about surrendering more deeply to Him, and letting His Spirit do what we can’t do on our own.

The truth is, unity is impossible—if it depends on us.

But the gospel changes the equation. Because when we’re rooted in grace, we don’t need everyone to agree with us. We don’t need to win every debate. We don’t need to demand our way. We can give grace because we’ve received grace. We can drop the board because Jesus already carried the cross. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity. It means letting Jesus work in us and through us—to do what only He can do. And when that happens? A divided world starts to see something different… and maybe even wants to be part of it.

Prayer for the Day

God what are you  showing me?  What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
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Read The New Testament In A Year

4 x 6 Plan | Read: Mark 9:14-32 & 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked. One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.  Mark 9:14-32

But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory. It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.  1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Read More – Bible Project Overviews: Mark, 1 Corinthians