Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Maintain Unity | Monique Duson | Ephesians 4

Episode Date: December 9, 2021

Is it possible to have unity in today's day and age? How should believers go about striving for unity? https://twitter.com/therealmoniqued (Monique Duson), co-founder and president of the https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com (Center for Biblical Unity), shares how her favorite passage, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204&version=NIV (Ephesians 4), teaches an important lesson about what it looks like to have unity as Christians. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast) Passages https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204&version=NIV (Ephesians 4) Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. And I'm Patrick Miller. Hey, today on 10-minute Bible Talks, I'm excited to introduce you to Monique Dusan. She is the co-founder of the Center of Biblical Unity. She is a BA from Biola University out in Los Angeles, and she's pursuing a master's from Regent University in Virginia. Hi, I'm Monique Ducon, co-founder and president.

of the Center for Biblical Unity. My favorite Bible verse, well, actually, I have a few favorites, but the one the Lord is speaking to me the most out of currently is Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 talks about maintaining our unity as believers. How do we actually do this? The book of Ephesians was actually written to a Gentile church. And so much of what Paul lays out is instructions to Gentile believers. The Gentiles didn't have all of the insight and wisdom or information from the Old Testament scriptures that the Jews had. So Paul really had to break things down. This is super helpful for me because I need things broken all the way down to be able to understand

it clearly. And I think in Ephesians 4, where Paul talks about maintaining our unity as believers, he does such an awesome job of laying out the specifics of what's needed for our unity. Let me read a couple of passages. Ephesians 4 verses 1 to 3 say, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. With all humility and gentleness with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. I love that he breaks down.

How do we live in a manner that's worthy of our calling? He says it's through humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love. One of the things that I also appreciate about Ephesians 4 is the fact that as Paul breaks this down, he isn't saying, you know what, you, Gentiles, this is only for you, or rich people, this is only for you, or those of you who have walked in the faith for a longer time, this is for you. No, these instructions are to all believers. If we go down in chapter four and begin at verse 22 through the end of the chapter in verse 32, it says, To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one, one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. I love that because as Christians, we belong to one another. I belong to you and you belong to me regardless of our skin color. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths,

but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

And verse 32, that very last verse, is so important because we belong to one another. We have to remember that we, one, bear with one another, but we also forgive. We maintain a posture that is tenderhearted with one another. We don't just cancel one another or leave and walk away. We are family. And Ephesians 4 really gives us clarity into how do we live out our familial responsibility? I hope this verse or passage blesses you as much as it blesses me. Have a good day. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating.

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