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Q2. Essential Attitudes for Unity


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Q2.(Ephesians 4:2)

What characteristics or attitudes are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2?

Attitudes of humility, gentleness, and patience encourage unity among Christians. When we come to think of it, all of these are dimensions of love. Love is the inclusive Christian virtue; but even more than that, it is the incentive that helps us keep going on our Christian walk. That is why Paul states we have to bear with one another in love and we are to make every effort to keep the unity.

Which of these do you think is most important?

I would think it is humility. The opposite is pride, and pride promotes disunity. Having said this, we have to be careful about false humility.

Which is most difficult?

I have read somewhere that humility has been called the first, second, and third essential of the Christian life. Being humble means we are slow to insist on our rights; we realize that all our rights have been secured by grace, and we have nothing to boast about. I have found a few verses that mention a person being humble.

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Q2. (Ephesians 4:2) What characteristics or attitudes are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2? Which of these do you think is most important? Which is most difficult? Exposition

Humility, gentleness and patience. They are all important but I think the most difficult is humility. We are so quick to think that we are correct in our love and interpretation, but to be truly humble is to think nothing of oneself, but everything of Jesus and to - to have a high esteem of Jesus. Its the opposite of pride. Unity will come when Jesus is the focus and when our collective goal is to forget about ourselves and our goals and to lift Jesus up for the world to see.

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Q2.

(Ephesians 4:2) What characteristics or attitudes are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2?

Humility, gentleness, patience, forebearance, and love

Which of these do you think is most important?

Love

which is most difficult?

For me personally, patience

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"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (4:2)

All of these characteristics are necessary for brothers and sisters to get along, but they are all difficult especially when there are differences in opinion, personality, temperament and maturity. I pray for these things every time I participate in a church meeting. Praying helps, but God is still working on me.

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The characteristics or attitudes that are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians are humble, gentle, patient, and love. I don’t think that you can separate them. It will take all or there won’t be unity in the church. They are all difficult because we are humans and we have our way of understanding what we are reading. But if we listen to each other then we can learn a lot.

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  • 3 years later...

We must have and be humble, gentle ans patient, we must be accepting of each other in a loving way. I think love is the most important because that was one of the greatest commandments that Jesus taught us. To most Christians and all men on earth, I feel the humbleness and humility are going to be the hardest to accomplish and maintain.

 

In this society, men are tought to always keep striving to be the best that they can be. They are boastful and always trying to out do others.

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Q2. (Ephesians 4:2) What characteristics or attitudes are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2? Which of these do you think is most important? Which is most difficult?

 

Humility or modesty is one of the attitudes necessary for unity.  Our pride should be in Christ Jesus and in his Spirit working freely in our midst, not in the peculiarities of our history or beliefs.(notes) We should take no glory or praise for anything for all  the praise and glory is the Lord's When we "glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:3), rather than in ourselves, we can have true humility. And that humility is required to keep unity in Christ's Church. (notes)

A second quality is gentleness or meekness. Jesus lived gentleness -- in fact, this very gentleness and openness is what attracted people. In contrast to the Pharisees' hardness, Jesus exhibited an openness towards others that freed them.(notes) We ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit need also to overcome our self centeredness, greed and selfishness and become more like Christ. We are called to love our neighbour as ourselves. Our lives need to be Christ centered. This kind of gentleness and openness is essential for unity in Christ's Church. Away with Pharisaical aloofness among brothers and sisters that keeps us apart!

A third quality is patience which is one of the core Christian virtues and is vital to Christian unity. we can see this quality in Jesus as he continually corrected the disciples and continued patiently to explain-but they didn't get it until finally the resurrection and the appearance of the Lord to the disciples. Forbearance and tolerance are necessary for the unity of Christ's Church.(notes)

A fourth quality is love. Paul speaks frequently of the quality and necessity of love in Christian relations and relationships. This word to describe the particular quality of Christ-like, unselfish love that looked out for others' needs rather than one's own.(notes) This love is agape love-the love of Christ for us. It is an amazing love as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13.3-5 . Some times we need to go to the very ends of our loving limits in order to obtain unity. But to often our pride and selfishness get in the way.

 

 Of these love is probably the most important and also the most difficult. To love often requires the utter and complete help that is offered by the Spirit. As Paul writes : "Love is patient , love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1Cor.13.3-5 Love embodies most of the other characteristics. 

 

 

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  • 3 years later...
On 5/15/2003 at 7:18 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (Ephesians 4:2) What characteristics or attitudes are necessary for maintaining unity with other Christians according to verse 2? Which of these do you think is most important? Which is most difficult? Exposition

Lowliness and meekness to keep us from having pride which God really hates.  Suffering with other Christians, pray with them, have sorrow when they are sad, be glad when they are happy.  Be one with them in Christ’s love.  Meekness because it prevents us from thinking we’re better than others and thus making us proud which was the downfall of Satan.

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  • 2 years later...

Jesus said we must love one another.So love is the most important thing in the church.Love also brings people to christ.Kindness,gentleness and forbearance also maintains unity inside the church.Patience and humility is the most difficult thing we found inside the church.

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