This Month’s Theme:
Dwell in Unity
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1
Artist’s Reflection
As I dig deeper into Psalm 133, I am fascinated by how rich and abundant God’s blessing for unity is. This precious blessing is so extensive that it is depicted as the dew of Mount Hermon stretching across to Mount Zion, which is a great distance away. In the same way, when God’s people live together in harmony, the Lord showers us with His blessings and causes us to flourish.
After more than a year of living in this pandemic, I almost forgot how it feels like to interact with other people. I’ve been immersing myself in work and planning my future. As a person who enjoys solitude so much, this is my comfort zone. But Psalm 133 challenges me to move beyond my personal preferences and agenda, and to nurture unity with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as the body of Christ. Not only because unity is good and pleasant, but also that my life will become a witness for God, and that the world may believe in Jesus (John 17:20-23).
—Abigail Setiadi
Join in the Conversation
Life is wonderful when we’re surrounded by people whose presence refreshes our spirits. People who are truly life-giving, who share our outlook in life, and will journey with us ‘til the end.
As God’s people, that’s what we hope to have in each other. Yet what really binds us together isn’t our compatible personalities, similar interests, or even life experiences.
Rather, what binds us together are these:
We share one faith and hope in our Lord Jesus, the head of our body.
We have one God and Father, making us one family.
We are given one Spirit, who teaches us true unity (Ephesians 4:4-6).
This month, we invite you to reflect on what it means to dwell in unity. What kind of like-mindedness is expected of us? Is it about avoiding conflict, or being more of a “Yes” person, or does it go deeper? How can we support each other and finish the race of faith together?
If you have got a story to share, we’d love to hear it! Check out our writers’ guidelines and send us your story.
Here are some subthemes to help you get started:
- Keep the unity of the Spirit
- Live together in the bond of peace
- Walk in humility, gentleness, patience
Topics to Explore
Keep the unity of the Spirit
Growing in the knowledge of God, growing in our faith in Jesus, walking with the Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, appreciating and using our spiritual gifts, working as one body, looking out for the weaker members, praying together in the Spirit, staying and working together even when it’s hard, serving the body of Christ
Live together in the bond of peace
Acknowledging differences, confessing to and forgiving one another, working towards reconciliation, committing to/standing by each other, sharing our resources and burdens, meeting each other’s needs, choosing peace over conflict, learning to listen well, speaking the truth in love, life-giving friendship, supporting one another through different seasons of life, finishing the race together
Walk in humility, gentleness, patience
Giving way to each other, looking after others’ interests, true humility, responding rightly to anger, seeing strength in meekness, loving sacrificially, going the extra mile, patience in the face of difficulties, honouring God in our suffering, being long-suffering
Join in the Fun
If you’re more of a visual person, you can be a part of the YMI community by contributing or tagging your artworks with our hashtag #ymitoday. Check out our creatives’ guidelines and send us your artworks.
We know you love your colours, so do we! Each quarter, we set a colour theme that we’ll work around. Use the colour palette below to increase your chances of getting featured!
