Unity Seed – Put Others First: Heart and Mind

Key Verse

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Acts 4:32 (NIV)

Short Reflection

I find it interesting that Dr. Luke, when he wrote this Book of Acts, captured that this remarkable generosity and “putting others first” behavior resulted from unity in heart and mind. If they were “one” in heart and mind, whose “one” heart and mind do you think they had? Could it be anyone’s but Jesus?

Oh, to have the heart of Jesus! Jesus saw everyone with whom He had contact differently than almost everyone else saw them! He saw what they could become, not just who they had been. He saw the transformative impact that mercy could have in their lives if they would only embrace it. He saw that the last were capable of becoming first, especially if the first would embrace His kingdom and willingly, even joyfully, choose to become last. Do you have the heart of Jesus?

Oh, to have the mind of Jesus! Jesus knew that His Father’s will was better than anyone could imagine. He knew how to respond in a constructive, not destructive, way to those who challenged Him. He knew that His greatest impact would take place if He committed Himself to something so great that He could never fully accomplish it in His own life here on earth. He knew how powerful effective discipleship, pouring His life into others, would be. Do you have the mind of Jesus?

If we are ever going to become “All for One”, we have to become one in heart and mind, and the One’s heart and mind we all need to transplant into our own beings is that of Jesus.

Lord, let this reader and I be “All for One”, and may we become one in heart and mind for the sake of the kingdom.

This is the fifth in the “Put Others First” series of blog posts.