Finding Unity in Christ

In a world filled with hate and darkness that seems to be winning, it’s easy for our hearts to become filled with fear, anger, and deep sorrow. What’s even more unsettling than the tragedies themselves is watching people rejoice when voices they disagree with are silenced. This isn’t just anger—it’s a demonic spirit that the Bible warns us about.

Jesus prepared His disciples for this reality. In John 16:20, He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.” Similarly, Revelation 11:10 describes how people will “rejoice” and “make merry” over the death of God’s prophets. This celebration of death reveals a demonic spirit at work.

The same spirit that loves death and division loves nothing more than when the church turns on itself. This is exactly what Paul addresses as he concludes his letter to the Galatians.

What Does True Christian Freedom Mean?

Paul has spent four chapters telling the Galatians about the incredible freedom Jesus gives us. But in chapter 5, he gives a powerful warning about how this freedom can be twisted.

In Galatians 5:13, Paul writes: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty.” Let that sink in—we have been called to freedom! The chains are gone, and the heavy backpack of religious rules has been thrown off the cliff.

But Paul immediately follows with a crucial warning: “Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.” Our freedom in Christ isn’t a license to live selfishly or feed our sinful nature. Instead, Paul explains that our freedom exists “through love” so that we can “serve one another.”

This is the essence of the Christian life: love God and love others. Our freedom isn’t about serving ourselves—it’s about having the power and desire to serve one another.

What Happens When Christians Fight Each Other?

Paul paints a terrifying picture of what happens when we use our freedom selfishly instead of serving others. In Galatians 5:15, he warns: “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.”

This brutal image describes gossip, slander, backstabbing, and fighting for control—a church tearing itself apart from the inside out. This is exactly what the enemy wants. He stirs up chaos and hate in the world so that we start biting and devouring each other within the church.

When we focus on fighting over our differences—politics, preferences, traditions—instead of fighting for the Gospel, Satan has us right where he wants us.

Who Is Our Real Enemy?

Why do good Christian people who love Jesus start fighting each other? Because we forget who the real enemy is and get tricked into fighting the wrong battle.

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul makes this crystal clear: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Let that sink in—we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Your brother is not your enemy. That family member who makes your skin crawl is not your enemy. Your boss is not your enemy. Even that preacher who teaches differently than you is not your enemy.

Our fight is against spiritual forces—principalities, powers, and Satan himself. But the enemy is crafty. He knows he cannot win a head-on fight against a unified, Spirit-filled church, so he tricks us into fighting each other instead.

The Battle Between Flesh and Spirit

Paul explains in Galatians 5:16-17 that the enemy wages war on the battleground of our hearts: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”

This is a spiritual tug-of-war happening inside us. The flesh—that part of us we can never seem to tame—pulls us toward what the enemy wants.

Paul lists the “works of the flesh” in verses 19-21: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, and revelries.

The word “dissensions” is particularly important. It’s not just a disagreement, which can sometimes be healthy. A dissension is a disagreement that has turned into division—when a difference of opinion becomes so important that someone is willing to leave the group or create a different group.

It’s like a player getting so mad that he’s not the quarterback that he convinces half the team to start their own huddle and run a different play. This causes chaos, divides the team, and makes it impossible to move forward together.

Paul warns that those who practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” These relational sins are the very things that cause us to fight with each other. When we operate in the flesh, we are literally fighting Satan’s battle for him.

How Do We Win the Real Battle?

So what’s the answer? How do we stop fighting each other and start fighting the real enemy? Paul gives us the one battle plan that works against Satan’s schemes: “Walk in the Spirit.”

When we do this, we produce evidence that we’re winning the right battles. Galatians 5:22-23 describes this evidence as “the fruit of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Notice the contrast: the works of the flesh are all about division and fighting, while the fruit of the Spirit is all about unity and love. Love fixes hatred. Peace repairs outbursts of wrath. Kindness takes care of contentions. Gentleness transforms selfish ambition into caring for others.

This isn’t a to-do list—it’s the character of Jesus Christ himself. This is what the Holy Spirit grows inside us when we surrender to Him. When this fruit is growing in our lives, we stop seeing our brothers and sisters as enemies and start seeing them as fellow soldiers.

Who Are You Fighting?

The Holy Spirit asks us a hard, honest question: Who are you fighting? Is it a family member you haven’t spoken to in years because of some argument? A coworker who drives you crazy? A fellow church member you’re holding a grudge against?

If the “enemy” in your mind has a name and face made of flesh and blood, you’ve been tricked. The real enemy has deceived you into fighting the wrong battles.

The call of the Gospel today is to lay down your arms against your brother or sister. It’s time to repent for the times we’ve “bitten and devoured” each other. It’s time to ask God for forgiveness for fighting with His children instead of fighting His enemies.

The only way to win the real war is to first surrender the battle inside your own heart—to stop walking in the flesh and start walking in the Spirit.

Life Application

Imagine a church so focused on fighting darkness that we don’t have time to fight each other. A church where prayer meetings are spent calling out the names of lost neighbors instead of whispering about each other. Where our energy isn’t wasted on petty disagreements but is poured into helping those in need. A family so united against our real enemy that we can’t be tricked into a civil war.

This week, I challenge you to:

Identify any relationships where you’ve been “fighting the wrong battle.” Who have you been treating as an enemy that is actually a brother or sister in Christ?

Surrender that relationship to God and ask the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit in your life, especially in how you interact with that person.

Take one practical step toward reconciliation or unity with someone you’ve been in conflict with.

Ask yourself these questions:

Am I more committed to being right than to being united with my brothers and sisters?What “works of the flesh” am I allowing to create division in my relationships?How can I redirect my energy from fighting people to fighting the real enemy?

The truth of the Gospel is that anything added to Jesus Christ is petty and useless. When we grasp this, we can stop fighting each other and start standing united against the rulers of darkness.