The enemy of every church in the network I serve has a favorite strategy, and it’s surprisingly simple: divide and conquer. When Jesus observed in Matthew 12:25 that “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,” He was stressing a fundamental truth about warfare: internal division creates a potentially fatal vulnerability to our enemy during a battle.

The way we relate to one another as believers should reflect our awareness that we are living in an unseen hostile environment. The real battle we are engaged in is not against a brother or sister in Christ.

In language bristling with warfare imagery, Paul explains in Ephesians 6:11-12: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This is not exaggerated “preacher talk.” The Apostle is describing the experiential, “here-and-now” reality of every believer and every church.

Satan understands what many churches have forgotten: unity in Jesus is our strength, and division among ourselves is our vulnerability. When believers turn against one another, when churches split over preferences and personalities, when criticism and complaints replace encouragement and love, we hand the enemy exactly what he wants.

A divided church is a defeated church.

But Jesus has given us something powerful to combat this strategy. In John 13:34-35, He issued what He called a “new commandment”: “that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This is our primary defense against the enemy’s divisive tactics. When we choose to love one another as Christ loved us, we create an unbreakable bond in Christ that the gates of hell cannot prevail against.

Consider what this love looks like in a church. It means choosing to believe the best about our brothers and sisters in Christ. It means addressing conflicts directly and biblically rather than allowing them to fester in whispered conversations. It means extending grace when others disappoint us, just as Christ extends grace to us. It means prioritizing the unity of the body over our personal preferences. It means getting down on your knees and crying out to the Father when your church is failing to walk in His love.

The world is watching to see if our faith makes a difference in how we treat one another. When we demonstrate Christ’s love within the church, we provide a compelling witness to a broken world desperate for a “safe place” to be accepted and loved. When we fail to love one another, we undermine the very gospel we proclaim. The enemy thrives on our divisions, but Christ calls us to become living exhibitions of His mercy and grace to a watching world.