The Value of Unity

When we decided to take in foster kids, our once peaceful home became a war zone. Every day, a new battle ensued over things that seemed so small and insignificant to me—Legos, riding the bike, and doing homework. Don’t even get me started on the arguments that took place over food!

Some days, I wanted to throw my hands up and scream, “Will you please just get along?” I think I might have done that once or twice. And, yes, even years later, I still feel like screaming the same thing when I spend too much time on social media or watching the news. When that happens, my peace is gone.

We live in such a divided culture. Our race, economic status, and politics often separate us into opposing camps of “us” and “them.” We connect with those with common interests or beliefs and avoid, or even shun, those who have nothing in common with us. At the end of the day, we are far from unified—holding firm that our own individual opinion is the right one.

Unity is not something we strive to achieve in a culture that values individualism. And, so often, even as believers, our churches are as divided as the world.

But Jesus wanted something more for His Church. He wanted us to be unified. He even prayed for that in John 17:20-21: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one” (NKJV). Jesus knew there was power in oneness.

David shows us this power in Psalm 133:1. He writes: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Good and pleasant sounds nice, right? But David didn’t stop there. He goes on to say that unity is like precious oil.

“It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forevermore.” (v. 2-3)

In the Old Testament, priests used oil to anoint those who were called by God for sacred service. It signified God’s presence, blessing, and sanctification upon an individual. In the New Testament, oil is still used to signify the Holy Spirit and His presence in a person’s life.

Unity opens the door for God’s blessings and anointing to flow, not just on our heads but also over our entire bodies. This is what God intended for us as His Church. When we operate in unity, we reflect Jesus—and when we do, others are drawn to Him, and those who find Him discover ultimate peace, love, and joy.

We did our best as foster parents to show the children in our home how to get along. On rare and special moments when the fighting ceased, they ran outside to play together, full of laughter and joy! In those moments, I often stood at the window to watch them run. And I would smile.

We can experience that same joy and peace every day when we strive to walk with other believers in the oneness of God. How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

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Scripture is taken from the New King James Version^®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.