“Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:5-6).
If I were to give a rustic but reliable paraphrase of this two-fold name of God, I might say “the God who doesn’t give up and fortifies us so we don’t either.” The word “patience” includes the idea of endurance, and the word “comfort” has the notion of coming alongside to help. And what is God’s objective in helping us to go on and grow strong? To be like-minded to the point of being one-minded!
This is a really big deal with the Lord. See how many times He mentions it in His prayer in John 17. The secret of this like-mindedness is the operative phrase “according to Christ Jesus.” If we would jettison personal agendas and get on board with Him, instantum we’d be on the same page. The end result? You see it at the verse’s end. What a petition for today!