Unity

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, 

even Aaron’s beard:

that went down to the skirts of his garments;

As the dew of Hermon, 

and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:

for there the Lord commanded the blessing, 

even life for evermore.

Psalm 133

Precious ointment, overflowing and covering your body. Dew from heaven blanketing the mountains. That’s what unity feels like: comfortable, refreshing, satisfying. We feel that we could live this way forever.

When Jesus visited the American continent, He had a clear message for His listeners: The vitriol must stop. “There shall be no disputations among you as there have hitherto been,” He said. “He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Nephi 11:28-29).

After interacting with the Savior for three days, the people lived in peace for nearly 200 years. Mormon tells us four times that there was no contention among them, and he explains that it was “because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Nephi 1:2, 13, 15, 18).

Thousands of years earlier, a group of people led by the prophet Enoch achieved a similar state of unity:

And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Moses 7:18

Elder Dale G. Renlund recently reminded us of the connection between unity and love:

Unity requires effort. It develops when we cultivate the love of God in our hearts and we focus on our eternal destiny…. Our love of God and our discipleship of Jesus Christ generate genuine concern for others. We value the kaleidoscope of others’ characteristics, perspectives, and talents….

When love of Christ envelops our lives, we approach disagreements with meekness, patience, and kindness. We worry less about our own sensitivities and more about our neighbor’s. We “seek to moderate and unify.” We do not engage in “doubtful disputations,” judge those with whom we disagree, or try to cause them to stumble. Instead, we assume that those with whom we disagree are doing the best they can with the life experiences they have.

“The Peace of Christ Abolishes Enmity,” General Conference, October 2021

Today I will strive to foster unity. I will seek for the love of God, which will enable me to transcend petty disagreements and to appreciate the value of each son or daughter of God.