If you mix all the colors of the rainbow together, you get brown.

Ephesians 4 talks of “Unity in the body of Christ”. It says things like “ walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… (verse 1-3)”

This unity of the Spirit implies we allow each color to shine its designated, unique hue while working together as one body. We also have the beautiful imagery of Believers being the body of Christ. Some of us are maybe more thick skinned than others and therefore are a perfect heel, some bend really well and act as an elbow. We each have our part, yet bend and strain as needed to keep the whole body healthy. When the right side of your should hurts, the other side also begins to because it’s been overcompensating for the right side. Without the smallest member, our body and the Body of Christ can’t function properly. So how do we work together while letting each part/each color be unique? In other words, that’s easy to say and write about; it’s much harder to live. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some examples that have come to my mind:

• We have to realize God made us different by design.

In the City on a Hill song by Casting Crowns, it says, “they let their differences divide”. We weren’t meant to do everything well on our own. The heart wasn’t created to be the lungs, digestive system and respiratory system too. It was made to pump blood throughout the body to those other parts. In the same way, God has given us each separate gifts and functions. When we use those together, we work like our body systems, breathing as the lungs expand, receiving and recycling the blood to each system.

• We don’t have to be like someone else.

Because God made us unique, He doesn’t expect us to be like someone else. I have a very strong, passionate personality.  I like to get things done NOW and move one. I often wish I could be more laid back, easy going, even keel, for my blood pressure and those around me would probably be lower if I did. It’s in those moments I hear the Lord say, “I know how I made you Julie. I created you that way on purpose.”

• Our job isn’t to change other people.

When we’re working together on a project, personalities really come out. We do things differently, often even to arrive at the same place. When I was working on this blog and trying to get it launched, I needed help. So I called in my patient, techy husband. After I’d asked him to help me and I’d told him what I was thinking, I kept wanting to grab the mouse and show him how to do it! He would go to a page a different way than I had and it bothered me. I wanted him to do it my way! He would simply look at me and say “Do you want my help or not” with his eyes and I realized what I was doing. He’s perfectly capable of finding his way around the web and I could probably learn a thing or two if I would sit down and take a deep breath. The same applies to our body. We could all learn a thing or two from each other if we could slow down enough and not insist on our way or no way!

• We need each other to have proper expectations

Here’s what I mean: We need each other, there is no doubt about it. A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken. But, my sister in Christ does not fill all my holes, Jesus does. If I’m looking to her to always make me feel good about myself, or to solve my marriage problems and help me with my kids, she will fail me.

We must first soak our self fully in God’s love or we will try to find it in this world and come out totally dry. I think sometimes the frustrations I’ve had with my husband can fall in the same line. I have expectations on him that shouldn’t be there. I can love and serve so much more freely when I’m satisfied in Jesus and not looking for everyone to fill my cup and listing the 3 reasons why I’m mad at you because you didn’t.

Unity of the Spirit. Unity period. It’s hard, especially with a bunch of unique passionate individuals around. Keep up the good work friends, the world is watching how we love each other, let’s show them some good stuff!

Thanks to this link for the rainbow picture. I did modify from the original size to be 1200×627