THE WEAK AND THE STRONG

Romans 14:1-12 / Keywords 14:3

The 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.

 

The Weak and the Strong

14:1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 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. 4 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.

5 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. 6 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. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 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. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Footnotes

a. Romans 14:10 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verses 13, 15 and 21.

b. Romans 14:11 Isaiah 45:23

1. We should do our best to be sober minded before God and serve him. While we do so, we may also become judgmental toward others. We may meet people we consider to have weaker faith than us. Some people are able to eat everything, while others are only able to eat vegetables. Should we judge based on what we think?

 

2. We may say we served God from our youth and that we served God with all our time. Or we may have many disciples or have given many offerings to God. We should not look down on those who are not able to do so. They will also stand before God, and they will stand because God will make them stand. We do not have any judgement over them. God is judge over us and them. Paul says in verse 4, “Who are you to judge someone else’ servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall.” We will give an account of ourselves to God. We should live before God rather than men. Rather than judging others, we should live before God.

 

3. While offering ourselves fully to God, we should not judge how others are doing before God. God is their judge, and in God’s eyes, they will stand because they are God’s servants, too.

 

Prayer Lord, help us not to judge but accept one another in Christ.

One Word Accept one another in Christ