Rm15:1We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches [insults] of those who reproached you fell on me." 4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5May the God of [who gives] endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony [unity] with one another, in accord with [as you follow] Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one [heart and] voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore welcome [accept] one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of [to bring praise to] God. - ESV
Rm14:1Accept him whose faith is weak, without
passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One
man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak,
eats only vegetables. 3The
man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who
does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted
him. 4Who are you
to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls.
And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5One
man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day
alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He
who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to
the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord
and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives
to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If
we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we
live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this
very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of
both the dead and the living.- NIV
Rm14:10You, then, why do you judge
your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all
stand before God's judgment seat. 11It is
written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the
Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.'
" (Isa45:23)
12So then, each of us will give
an account of himself to God. 13Therefore
let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind
not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As
one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in
itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If
your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in
love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do
not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For
the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because
anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19Let
us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual
edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God
for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat
anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It
is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause
your brother to fall. 22So
whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.
Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But
the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from
faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. - NIV
Rm2:1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who
pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you
are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now
we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So
when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you
think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for
the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's
kindness leads you toward repentance? - NIV
Challenge: True Life