04.06.10 The 6th Key for Adding Value to Your Church

6. Display Love, Unity and Humility

At the inception of Shalom Galaxy, I approached my new friend Stephen, the head of the Living Sound Gospel Singers, (the sister choir that I mentioned earlier), to allow some of their musicians to give us the push we needed as we started out, which he so kindly did. As our band grew, it reached a point where the musicians from the choir would be needed at the same time as our scheduled missions. To respect the itineraries of the Living Sound, we returned the musicians to that choir, which of course left a huge void in our band. However, God rewarded our act of love, humility and unity by getting us a fresh set of musicians. That way, our band and the Living Sound were able and still do co-exist cordially united in our diversity.

For the case of Lydia, she must have played a central role in displaying love and unity in the Philippian church. Philippians 1:9 reveals Paul’s comments regarding the love that was present in the church and his prayer that it would continue increasing. That verse reads (NKJV): ⁹And this I pray, that your love may abound still moreand more in knowledge and all discernment,.. In addition,since some writers assert that members came from various gentile backgrounds and cultures; Lydia must have promoted unity in diversity; hence Paul’s emphasis in Philippians 2:2-4. That scripture reads (NIV):² … make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

A value-adding member displays love, unity and respect; with love as the overarching attribute.

Therefore, show ‘family affection’ to fellow church members (and of course other people in your path). The Expanded Bible version of Romans 12:10 puts it is so beautifully. It reads (EXB): Love [be devoted to] each other like brothers and sisters [with family/brotherly affection]. ·Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves [or outdo one another in showing honor; or be eager to show honor to one another]. Also,Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Undoubtedly, displaying genuine, tender and sincere love to fellow church members shows that you value them.