I have spent most of my Christian life wishing that certain pockets of Christians did not exist. Only a redemptive God with grace beyond comprehension could be this patient with me and still use me to teach about unity. Even now, as I study all these passages about division, I am embarrassed by my lack of remorse. If you can casually read on to the next paragraph, you have a serious problem. You should be examining your own life right now to see if you are guilty of something that Almighty God hates so much. He calls it an “abomination”! That should stop you dead in your tracks. In God’s list of things He hates (Prov 6:16–19), He places greatest emphasis on “one who sows discord among brothers.”

It would anger me to see any of my children being divisive. As a father of seven, it would crush me to see any of my children rejected and separated from the others. No good father wants to see separation between his children. He sent His Son to bring His children together under His care. We worship a God who desires unity with His children and between His children. That’s how badly they want freedom from Him. Romans 1 explains that though they know He exists, they suppress the truth. Their desire to ignore Him is so strong that they convince themselves He’s not real.

They’re busy and tired of trying to squeeze in a token visit as their duty. Imagine how He feels knowing that some of His children wish He didn’t exist.

The heartbreak parents feel when their child wants to live independent of them is a fraction of what the Creator feels. Part of you wants to demand it because you want it so badly, but you know that isn’t love. Everything in you hopes this child will want to stay connected. You produce a life, knowing that the baby will one day have the freedom to ignore you and live independently if he or she chooses. Parents might get a small taste of God’s emotions with their own children. The Bible says in James 4:5, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us.” Do you believe that you have a heavenly Father who “yearns jealously” for you? He created Adam and Eve to walk with Him in the garden, and He created us to not only walk with Him but in Him.

Session 7 francis chan book of james