Each to their own

[Grazer]

God put this passage on my heart and mind this morning as I was thinking about some of the discussions I've had recently about friendships and what a Christian can/can't do. I think we sometimes forget that God made us all individuals, we can handle different things, need different things, take different approaches. We are all unique, each to their own according to gods plan.

Romans 14:1-23 NIV

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
"'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.'" So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

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[Deborah13]

Amen

Rest in the Risen Lord

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Much like with another human being, the more we trust God, the more willing we are to go along with what he wants us to do, even when we can see reasons to not want to do it. And this is an important thing to keep in mind in today's world, where society's standards of conduct are steadily drifting further and further away from the Lord's.

One simple example would be tithing. A natural reaction to being asked to pay tithing is "but I need that money!" For a person with weak faith, that's the end of the discussion. For someone with more trust in God -- or for someone with personal experience with tithing, which implies past obedience, which helps build faith; it's all part of a cycle -- they might say "I need that money, but I know that God won't let me falter," and so they pay their tithing, do what they can with the money they have left, and trust in the Lord to make up the difference. And when he does, that helps them increase their faith in the principle, and in God in general.

So the strength of faith is measured by a person's actions, by how obedient they're able to be even in the face of adversity. Be careful, though, not to attempt to gauge the strength of someone else's faith this way, since all you can see is an outward appearance, while the Lord sees a person's heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and there may well be details you're missing. But if someone comes to you asking for help because they believe that their own faith is weak, you can use this understanding to help them find ways to strengthen it.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Too many people in the church think just because they approve of something it's okay, but Paul gives us this warning in this passage about the freedom of strong faith:

"Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves." (Romans 14:22 NIV1984)

The two examples I see the most are drinking alcohol and allowing themselves to see nude images.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

It's interesting to note that in the passage it is the person who carries the heavy burden of restraint that has the weaker faith, not the person who indulges and who seems to be casting restraint aside in disobedience.

This was a real eye opener to me in the first few years of my walk because I used to have a sense of pride in the things I would not do in regard to disputable matters. But it was actually a weak faith that made me so rigid and legalistic and restrained:

"2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." (Romans 14:2 NIV1984)


But, as I pointed out, the warning to the one with the greater faith (that allows him to eat everything) is to not condemn himself by what he approves of doing. Nowadays I think more about not condemning myself by what I approve of doing. I've loosened up a lot.

Easily one of my favorite passages of scripture. It's deep.

Good topic Grazer.

 

[Grazer]

It's interesting to note that in the passage it is the person who carries the heavy burden of restraint that has the weaker faith, not the person who indulges and who seems to be casting restraint aside in disobedience.

This was a real eye opener to me in the first few years of my walk because I used to have a sense of pride in the things I would not do in regard to disputable matters. But it was actually a weak faith that made me so rigid and legalistic and restrained:

"2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." (Romans 14:2 NIV1984)


But, as I pointed out, the warning to the one with the greater faith (that allows him to eat everything) is to not condemn himself by what he approves of doing. Nowadays I think more about not condemning myself by what I approve of doing. I've loosened up a lot.

Easily one of my favorite passages of scripture. It's deep.

Good topic Grazer.

That's brilliantly put and observed, I didn't notice that

That opens up a whole new world

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[jeffreynaylor2009]

I agree it is important to constantly remember our uniqueness and diversities.