Breaking Down Walls
Strength for the Journey Devotional Series - End of Year Reflections
Ephesians 2:11–18
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace.” — Ephesians 2:14–15 (NIV)
Devotional
There’s a silent tension that follows us in every environment — classrooms, hospitals, even churches.
That subtle instinct to compare, compete, or close off.
In medicine, it often sounds like: “They’re ahead of me.” “I’ll never be that good.” “Why do they always seem so confident?”
It’s human, but it’s also exhausting.
Reading Ephesians 2 reminded me that comparison and division are not just emotional habits — they’re spiritual barriers.
And Jesus came to destroy them.
Paul paints this stunning image: once there were two groups — Jews and Gentiles — separated by law, pride, and culture. Yet Jesus didn’t just preach unity; He became it.
“He Himself is our peace.”
Not just the provider of peace — the embodiment of it.
He broke down walls humanity built — walls of race, religion, gender, pride, shame, fear, and performance.
He created something completely new: one body, one family, one humanity.
When I think about that, I realize how easily we build walls without meaning to.
Walls made of insecurity.
Walls made of resentment toward those who seem to have it easier.
Walls made of silence, because it feels safer than vulnerability.
But the gospel isn’t just about reconciling us to God — it’s about reconciling us to one another.
We can’t say we walk in grace and still walk around guarded.
Christ didn’t die so we could live as islands.
He died to make us one — a community marked not by competition, but by compassion.
Imagine what would happen in medicine, in school, in our friend groups if we truly lived this way — if we saw each other not as rivals, but as reflections of God’s creativity.
If every success we saw in someone else was proof that the Kingdom is still advancing.
Maybe that’s how we heal more than patients — maybe that’s how we help heal each other.
Because when grace truly takes root, walls fall.
And in their place, God builds bridges strong enough for His presence to walk across.
Prayer
Jesus, You are my peace.
Where my heart has built walls — of fear, pride, or comparison — tear them down gently and fully.
Remind me that Your grace doesn’t divide; it unites.
Teach me to see others the way You see them — not through insecurity, but through love.
Help me carry reconciliation wherever I go, especially in the places where people feel unseen or unworthy.
Let my presence bring peace because You live in me.
In Your name, amen.
Reflection Prompt
Where might I have built walls in my heart — toward others or even toward God?
What would it look like to let Jesus become my peace in that place today?