One in Christ
Excerpts
Only in Jesus Christ can we truly become one.
Becoming one in Christ happens one by one—we each begin with ourselves. We are dual beings of flesh and spirit and are sometimes at war within ourselves. …
Jesus was also a being of flesh and spirit. He was tested; He understands; He can help us achieve unity within. …
… To “put on Christ” certainly includes making His “first and great commandment” [see Matthew 22:37–38] our first and greatest commitment, and if we love God, we will keep His commandments.
Unity with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ grows as we heed the second commandment—inextricably connected to the first—to love others as ourselves. …
When we “put on Christ,” it becomes possible either to resolve or to lay aside differences, disagreements, and disputes. …
Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony. We can have our hearts knit together in love, be one in faith and doctrine, and still cheer for different teams, disagree on various political issues, debate about goals and the right way to achieve them, and many other such things. But we can never disagree or contend with anger or contempt for one another. …
I say again that it is only in and through our individual loyalty to and love of Jesus Christ that we can hope to be one—one within, one at home, one in the Church, eventually one in Zion, and above all, one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.