Jr High Blog

Have you ever noticed how easy it is for us to experience conflict with one another as a result of the things that make us different and unique? Maybe you experienced this the last time your family set out to agree on one thing to watch on TV together. Or perhaps it happened when your family tried to decide where to go out to eat. 

Sometimes the conflict can be big. Other times it can be small. Sometimes conflict can even happen as a result of the things we have in common. Siblings fighting over the same toy is a good case in point. 

Whatever the conflict may be, the things that make each of us different and unique, if left unchecked, can simply get in the way of our relationships with each other. 

Luckily, the Bible has provided a way for us to be united with those who are especially different from us. Paul writes to the Philippians: 

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion … (Philippians 2:1, NIV). 

Being unified with others begins with Jesus. It begins with receiving the love of God through Christ, who overcome our sin so that we might be restored to right relationship with Him. 

But it doesn’t end there. It doesn’t just happen when we receive. Paul goes on to write that unity can only happen when we share the love we have been given: 

Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.… in humility value others above yourselves (Philippians 2:2-3, NIV).  

Paul doesn’t promise that in Christ we will live free of conflict. But when conflict does arise, the calling is to practice humility by giving each other the same love that has been extended to us in Christ. When we imitate Christ by giving the love He has given us, our relationships will be so grounded in love that even the darkest powers of the world couldn’t shake them! 

Throughout the month of February, our students will begin by learning how God in Christ overcame the distance that our sin separated us from Him, so that we might be restored in Him. They will read stories of how those in the early church, which was made up of many different people and ethnic groups, were united by this love to overcome their own differences and to share the good news to all nations, tribes, and tongues (Acts 4). Finally, our students will learn about historical figures such as African missionary/evangelist Samuel Morris, who once converted an entire ship of sailors as a result of imitating Christ’s humility. 

I pray God’s blessing on us as this month we journey together deeper into the love God has for us in Christ. Blessings!