One in Heart and Mind

 Community Sharing Life in Christ

“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

The book of Acts gives us a moving picture of the early church: “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” Their unity did not grow out of convenience or similarity, but out of their shared life in Christ. Because Jesus had given Himself fully for them, they learned to hold their lives lightly before Him. “There were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34), not because they were wealthy, but because love reshaped their priorities. As Eugene Peterson observes, resurrection faith creates a new kind of economy—one marked by trust rather than fear, generosity rather than grasping. When believers know they are secure in God’s care, they are freed to care for one another.

This same spirit can still be seen today in communities that take Scripture seriously enough to let it shape their daily life. One example is the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist Christian movement whose members hold possessions in common, work together, raise their children communally, and gather for daily worship. They seek to live out Acts 2:44—“All the believers were together and had everything in common”—not as a rigid system, but as a joyful response to Christ’s love. Like Barnabas, who sold his field and laid the money at the apostles’ feet (Acts 4:36–37), they trust God to use what they have for the good of others. Their life reminds us that Christian generosity flows from gratitude, not obligation.

Yet Acts 4 is not calling every believer to the same structure, but every believer to the same spirit. Discipleship always draws us into shared life—shared burdens, shared joys, and shared responsibility. “Carry each other’s burdens,” Paul writes, “and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). In a culture shaped by independence and accumulation, the church is invited to model a different way: open hands instead of clenched fists, attentive hearts instead of guarded lives. When we give time, listen with compassion, pray faithfully, and respond generously to need, we become living witnesses to the love of Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for making us one in Christ. Teach us to live with open hearts and willing hands, free us from fear and selfishness, and fill us with Your Spirit of love and generosity. May our lives reflect Your grace to all around us, so that others may see Your kindness through us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.