One Heart One Mouth

DEVOTION
ROMANS
ONE HEART AND MOUTH
Rom 15:5-6
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NIV
So God does give me the endurance and the encouragement, but now I must also accept this spirit if unity he bestows upon me. It is he who gives this spirit of unity among me and my fellow followers of Christ. So then I have to ask myself, why do I not feel unity when I am among fellow followers? Is it because I am not really following Christ? Is it because they may not actually be following Christ? Is it both? Am I more interesting in myself, then Christ? Do I follow after my own agenda rather than God’s agenda for me? Are all us believers of one heart and mouth? Do we all glorify God? Do we all present a unified image to the unbelieving world? It is my fault? Do I function in the body as God intends for me to? Even if I do, do I do it with a true spirit of unity? This unity is to be like minded or have be of the same opinion, or mentally disposed in a certain direction. Is this the definition of the church? Am I of the same opinion or mentally disposed in the same direction as the rest of the followers of Christ? A difficult question indeed! Does this mean doctrine or dogma? Or does this imply loving God in the simplest form, allowing for a wide range of individual doctrinal disputes? If so, what then does have one heart and mouth mean? Do not all these differences take away from bringing glory to God? I think so, but what can I do about that? How do I apply this verse to me? What is my responsibility in being like minded with fellow followers of Christ and being of one heart and mouth? I do believe it has to be in the simplest sense of loving God with all my heart, my soul, mind and strength and loving my neighbor as myself. The rest is fluff and puff. So I say to my fellow followers of Christ, if you love God with everything you have and me as much as you do love yourself, we are of one heart and mouth and we can glorify God together.