Friday Family Devo: TRUTH AND UNITY

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn.

The church is a big group of family and friends who love to learn about Jesus and share His truth. We believe in telling the truth about everything, especially the Bible, and in doing everything we can to stick together in unity. It's like playing a game where you have to follow the rules (truth) and also play nicely with everyone (unity). 

Being dedicated to truth and staying together in unity can be hard because we all disagree about something. Imagine if everyone had to agree on everything! That would be like saying everyone has to like the same color or food. That's never going to happen! But there are some big rules, like believing in Jesus as the only possible Savior from sins, that everyone should follow, and if someone doesn’t follow those big rules like it, they’re not being honest, and we just can’t be unified. If we say everyone must think the same way about everything, we will never have much unity. But if we say it's okay not to follow the big rules to have more friends, that's not being honest, and soon, no one will be able to trust each other, and no one will be friends. Trust comes from truth. There’s no unity without trust. So, we try our best to follow the big rules and be kind even when we don't agree about everything else. We can all have differences of opinion, but we can also always be friends if we believe in obeying the clear commandments in Scripture. 

Discuss:

• Why is it important for friends to be honest with each other?


• Can you think of a time when you and your friends disagreed but still stayed friends? How did you do it?

• If you were making rules for a club, what would be one big rule everyone must follow, and why?

This week, we learned about the importance of truth AND unity. As much as we want everyone in the world to be united as one big happy family, disagreements make it difficult. Disagreements about the most important things make it impossible. We must be patient that we pray for wisdom, study diligently, and do our best to try to maintain unity with other believers as much as possible. Again, one more time this week, let’s say a special prayer for the Lord to restore our Christian unity worldwide and help us never to be the cause of division. 

—JLP


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