Daily Bread

Unity to be Encouraged and Endured – Romans 15:5

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had” – Romans 15:5

As we reflect on this verse, we can see the attributes of God and the attributes of men. Paul used very nice words to describe our God and to differentiate us from the complete awesomeness of God but not to make us bad but to encourage us. This verse is full of praises to God and a prayer for us. 

Our God is existentially good and patient that is why Paul wrote this verse as a prayer for us that God may give us encouragement and endurance while it also glorifies God. Meaning, as believers of Christ we must imitate the God who is existentially encouraging and enduring. We must be one with Him because He was made one with us. 

This also means that as God is patient with us, we must also be patient with one another. God has been so gracious and not easily angered despite all of the horrible things we have done. He has extended His patience and even extended His hand to reach us so that we can have our salvation through Him. 

Therefore, this verse is not only talking about the prayer Paul has written for us but this verse also teaches us to have our lives in-sync with Christ. Meaning, as Christ openly embraced us even if we are very sinful, we must also accept one another. In fact, the preceding verse and the proceeding verse of this talks about how we can accept one another. 

As Christians who are part of the body of Christ, it is very important to have unity between us, instead of fighting with each other. We must not talk behind each other’s back or think that we are higher than someone else because in fact, we are all sinners who beg for scraps of forgiveness from our Master’s table. We can never be higher than someone else or better than someone else for we have all fallen short in the glory of God. 

So in this prayer of Paul for us, may God who is the God of endurance and encouragement gives us all of these traits so that we may develop this and we can apply this in our lives. God is indeed patient, encouraging and forever enduring and He loved us so much which is why He has given us the fruit of the Spirit. Through this we will be able to develop and manifest this in our lives so that the people who did not know Christ will be enlightened by our lives. 

Unity is really a hard word and a hard task to do, but again, as people who are already set apart, we must always have the same attitude as Jesus towards each other. We must not  live our lives in opposition to what Jesus wants us to live. Instead, we must live in harmony, in unity, in love, in forgiveness and in grace. In fact, Jesus has been like this to us people who deserve God’s wrath because of His love. 

Again, may we live in accordance to Jesus Christ’s life and walk in-sync with Him. May God grant us patience, endurance and always encourage us to do His Will, not our will. Let us always remember that unity in Christ is much better than competing who is the best. We are saved by grace through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, let us be thankful of this and serve God wholeheartedly and in unity with other believers of Christ. 

For more daily reflection, verse and encouragement, you may follow us. You can also like, follow and visit us on:

Member of