Together

About 800 church leaders spent the past week together in Malacca for the annual LoveSingapore Summit. It was a time spent worshipping God, praying, and hearing where God is leading the church into for the season ahead. What’s amazing is this has been going on for 24 years, and I believe what kept this going is the grace of God in our relationships with one another.

You know, relationships really aren’t easy. Many of us struggle with broken relationships, and we just wish that things could be simpler. It’s the same with LoveSingapore. The unity of churches across Singapore isn’t something simple. In the 25 years of LoveSingapore’s existence, there have been all sorts of struggles and conflicts. Despite that, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t unity or a strong relationship. A relationship is not the absence of conflict. It is a decision to stick it out come what may.

Here are two truths that I’ve learnt about unity and relationships:

1. NOBODY IS PERFECT
While this is obvious, it has to be stated. In life, we will meet people whom we dislike, as well as people who dislike us. There could be a reason behind it, or it could be prejudice. The point here is that none of us will ever be exactly what other people want us to be. That’s why we need the grace of God. If we expect to be shown grace, we too must extend grace. If there’s someone in your life whom you don’t like, the question is this – are you willing to put in the effort in relationship building?

2. EVERYONE IS PROUD
All of us have pride. Whether it’s arrogance or shame, it all stems from pride. Pride is essentially self-centredness, when people focus on themselves more than what’s around. But what we must do in any relationship is leave our pride at the door. Because as long as there is any form of self-centredness, there can be no unity or true relationship. For a relationship to flourish, we must be willing to focus more on those around us than ourselves. Today, are you willing to get over yourself?

At the end of the day, God knows that nobody is perfect and everyone is proud. So, He sent His perfect and humble son to die for us so that we may be reconciled with our Heavenly Father. We often talk about the relationship we have with God, but we must remember that this is only possible because God was willing to pay the price to build this relationship, and Jesus was willing to humble Himself and overcome the shame of the cross for us.

I pray that we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, will demonstrate what unity and true relationships are all about.

- Deputy Senior Pastor Daniel Khong

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