Ephesians 2.11-18

11 "Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us."

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As you probably know, unity is a key part of me and my theology. To me, unity is MUCH more important than getting every detail of faith 100% correct. After all, we already have Jesus who got it 100% correct! =) From Paul's words here, I sense a message that he is conveying and that has some major implications for today, is that none of us should ever consider ourselves 'higher' than another believer based upon how much longer we've been a Christian or for how much longer we've known something. There's a certain balance that we need to discover how to live with, because there are times when those who have been Christian longer have a deeper maturity level but we have to help those less mature grow in maturity without thinking of them as less, ourselves as more, or putting the other one down. The fact of the matter is, we are all in the same boat. Without God, we have no hope! (vs 12) It's pretty sweet to see and think about how not only does Jesus' blood cleanse us and save us, but it also dissolves the barriers between us all. No more ethnicity barriers. No more racial barriers. Even no more gender barriers. The gift of peace with God was given to those near and far away, so that all had to opportunity to be a part of God's people!

What stuck out to you in this section?

"Father thank You for Jesus. We can't thank You enough! I pray that we would live our lives and align our actions so that Your desire and vision of unity would be realized and would manifest itself in a reality here on earth! If we are ever tempted to think less of another brother or sister because he or she is different from us, may you gently remind us of this passage and remind us that Your love is for us AND for them, just the way we are! We love You so much! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"