The way Christians relate to each other.
Showing godliness in the way we relate to each other
Command # 1 – v 1-2
“The strong need to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please themselves”
Reason # 1 – v 3-4
… because this is the example Jesus set.
Prayer # 1 – v 5-6
… a Spirit of unity in the church as they follow Jesus.
v 6 – that God might be glorified.
Command # 2 – v 7
“Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God”.
Reason # 2 – v 8-12
… because of Christ
Prayer # 2 – v 13
“… will fill us with joy and peace as we trust Jesus so that we overflow with hope by the power of the spirit.”
For us today
Firstly, our unity on matters of indifference.
The prayer of Jesus
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23
Unity commends the gospel to the world.
Secondly, It is the glory of God that ultimately matters.