Let’s aim for harmony and unity with one another.
14 I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. 15 And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.
20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. 22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
Romans 14:14-23
All foods are acceptable.
Paul is stressing the importance of not getting caught up in things that do not matter like the food we eat. He tells us to be supportive of others who may have weaker faith. We know it is okay to eat all foods but others may not know this yet. If we argue with other believers about such issues, Paul tells us we are not acting in love.
We are all called to act in love in all situations.
How do we do this? With the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 17 above. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God is in our hearts. We know this because Jesus tells us so.
20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”
Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”
Luke 17:20-21
The Kingdom of God is already among us.
It is in us. We reflect the Kingdom of God to non-believers in our actions. We reflect the Kingdom of God to believers. As our sinful nature dies little by little, we are made more and more like Christ. It is as we grow to be more and more like Christ that we are able to show more and more love in all situations.
Romans 14:18 above tells us if we live a life of peace and goodness and joy in the Holy Spirit, we will please God. It also says that we will please man as well. It’s a side effect of pleasing God. Pleasing God should be our main goal. I just want to clarify that we should not make pleasing man our goal. In Galatians, Paul gives us this advice:
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Galatians 1:10
When we try to please man, we will always be disappointed and miss the mark. So aim for pleasing God and let God take care of the rest. Further instruction in these Romans 14 verses is that we live in harmony and build one another up. Again, this is only possible when we live through the Holy Spirit.
Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat.
Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions.
If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
Yes, this last paragraph is word for word from the Scripture above (Romans 14:20-23). I could not have phrased it any differently than Paul. Follow your convictions. It is the Holy Spirit within guiding. Learn to hear Him as He nudges.
Stay in the Light and the Love Always,
Eva
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