Guarding Our Harmony

Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace… Ephesians 4:3

It was a hot mess at our house. It seemed like the tide of emotions had been running high in every area of our lives while we were in transition. We just moved into our new house and and everyone was drowning in work, unpacking, over-commitment, and frustration. It started with sensible conversation and slowly escalated to a fierce hurricane of emotions. After about 45 minutes of “loud reasoning”, tears, and escalating conversation, my oldest daughter began to laugh as she was crying, “I’m sorry ya’ll, I’m just really emotional.” Then my wife started laughing, and then my other daughters started laughing. They were wiping buckets of tears and laughing more. I was so freaked out I said, “OK, everyone out, I don’t even know how to deal with what I’m seeing”. I was truly at a loss for words and thought, “they have all lost their minds”! They hugged it out and thought it was so funny that I couldn’t understand what just happened. Well, if you live in a
house with all females (6 in my house) then, you understand the hormonal whirlwind I am explaining. It’s a rushing storm that comes and goes like a Texas Tornado!

   Needless to say, as I was praying for my family that next week (and my puzzled emotions), the Lord reminded me of a scripture in Ephesians that has been so near to my heart since 2012. I opened my bible (OK my bible app) and saw this passage in a translation I hadn’t read before. As I read through Ephesians 4 the Holy Spirit highlighted
the words, “Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace”. He asked me, “did you know there was a sweet harmony with me in the  bond of peace with others?” I began to listen as the Holy Spirit began to reveal the beauty
of these verses.

I read it over and over again speaking to the Lord about it as He ministered life to me and the words I would speak over my own family in the days ahead. It went like this:

As a prisoner of the Lord, I plead with you to walk holy, in a way that is suitable to your high rank, given to you in your divine calling. With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience. Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy
Spirit among you in the bonds of peace, being one body and one spirit, as you were all called into the same glorious hope of divine destiny . For the Lord God is one, and so are we , for we share in one faith, one baptism, and one Father. And He is the perfect Father who leads us all, works through us all, and lives in us all’. Ephesians 4:1-6 TPT (The Passion Translation)

   We have a sweet harmony between us! Jesus is our song, our melody, and we sing His song. But it’s the sweet harmony that we have with each other that makes the beautiful mosaic of His Bride. We guard it by walking holy with tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another.

   When we talk about a unity and walking together, we are not seeking unity merely for the sake of conformity or to lay down our convictions so we can have more people rally behind a cause, a prayer event, a worship event, or a social injustice. We are the body of Christ. Yahweh is our heavenly father and He is our dad, we have His name! We guard the sweet harmony among us because it moves the heart of God and He is the center of all things. He is the ONE we unite too. Ephesians 4:4-6 says, “being one body and one spirit, as you were all called into the same glorious hope of divine destiny. For the Lord God is one, and so are we, for we share in one faith, one baptism, and one Father. And He is the perfect Father who leads us all, works through us all, and lives in us all!” . We are one body, one spirit, sharing in one faith, one baptism, and he leads us all and lives in us all. And lastly, Jesus’ prayer for us was, “And I ask not only for these disciples, but also for all those
who will one day believe in me through their message. I pray for them all to be joined together as one even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one. I pray for them to become one with us so that the world will recognize that you sent me…” John 17:20-22.

My oldest daughter asked me one day as we were talking, “Dad, why would I keep giving myself to my sisters when they keep hurting me over and over again?” I looked at her as my heart broke for her, “because I’m your dad, they are your sisters, and they are my
daughters too. You have my name and I know you love me so much and there is nothing greater to my heart than to see our family loving one another as one.”

   I encourage you today, as you pray for unity together, remember there is already a sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among us. Even if we don’t see it, it is there. We MUST guard it at all costs. This week give yourself to the Lord and say “YES” to the Lord as you “walk
holy with tender humility and quiet patience, demonstrating gentleness and generous love toward one another. “