From the Greek ὁμόφρων (homophrōn), a compound of homos (same) and phrēn (mind, disposition): of one mind, likeminded. Semantic force: Phrēn denotes the seat of thought and disposition rather than the content of belief. The compound therefore describes a shared frame of mind rather than agreement on particulars. Theological depth: New Testament unity is repeatedly grounded in shared affection and humility rather than uniformity of opinion. The word chosen here makes that grammatically explicit.

Supporting Scriptures

Logos Unveiled

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Written by Brother Adamson Ndhlovu — what is taught here is set out in the statement of faith.

The Bible Today's Devotional The Forge The Pulpit Full Archive About Statement of Faith The Altar

The Good and Pleasant UnityOld Testament

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

(KJV)

The psalm treats the unity of brethren as something worth an entire song, and compares it to holy anointing oil.

The Likeminded ChurchNew Testament

“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

(KJV)

Paul asks for the same homophrōn disposition and immediately grounds it in the humility of Christ.

The Exposition

Peter closes a section on households and suffering with five adjectives, and the first governs the rest: homophrōn — of one mind. The word is not homodoxos, of one opinion. Phrēn is the disposition, the settled frame of thought, not the conclusion reached. That distinction spares this verse from becoming a demand for uniformity. Peter is not asking a congregation to agree about everything; he is asking them to want the same things. The four adjectives that follow describe what such a disposition looks like in practice — sympathy, brotherly love, pity, courtesy — and each of them is possible between people who disagree. The test of this verse is not whether your church agrees with you. It is how you treat the brother in it who does not. The last word in Peter's list has quietly lost its force in English. Courteous now suggests manners — holding a door, saying the right thing. The Greek behind it points at something closer to a friendly mind, a humble one; some manuscripts have the word for humble-minded outright. Either way it is not a rule about behaviour but a description of a disposition that behaviour follows from. And the placement is deliberate. Peter has just spent a long section on people in genuinely difficult positions — servants under harsh masters, wives of unbelieving husbands, a church suffering for doing good. Finally draws all of it together, and what he arrives at is not a strategy for enduring hostility from outside. It is a description of how the household behaves internally while it is under pressure. That order is worth noticing. A community being squeezed from without will find its fractures within, and Peter evidently knows it. The instruction for a church in a hostile world is to become harder to divide rather than harder to hurt.

The Altar

Show one deliberate courtesy this week to a fellow believer you genuinely disagree with, without relitigating the disagreement.

Daily Reading & Meditation

Passage:

Focus: Notice that every quality Peter lists is relational, and each is possible without agreement.

Ask yourself: Who in your church do you disagree with? Ask whether you have ever been deliberately kind to them, or only civil.

God of all grace, I have been right about something and unkind with it, and You call us to be of one mind, having compassion one of another, pitiful and courteous. Give me one heart with my brethren today by Your Holy Spirit, and make me courteous where I am right. In the name of the Lord Jesus, who is our peace. Amen.

← Wednesday 21 OctoberWe Shall Be Like Him Friday 23 October →The Shout and the Weeping