Scripture:
Romans 14:10
"So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God."
Observation:
This whole passage in Romans is talking about the difference in convictions and not arguing about what is right or wrong in what we eat or what day we declare holy. Paul was emphasizing that we need to have unity in the church and that we shouldn't judge others just because they feel the Lord has called them to different convictions. ALL of God's law can be summed up in the two commands: Love the Lord your God, and Love your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, everything else that is of no real consequence to God, my neighbor, or even perhaps oneself, is not what God has called us to focus on IN OTHER PEOPLE. Paul goes on to write in verse 21, "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." God gave us a conscience and to disobey those things which God has laid upon our heart is a sin. Just as I may set a general guideline for my children to have one hour of TV but for one child it is easy and another it is pure torture. Which one of these children needs the rule more? Or what if I have a child who overeats and a child who hardly ever eats? I may set a limitation on one child and welcome the other to eat as much as they feel like. Is this unfair? Perhaps, from the outside looking in, but it may also seen unfair to a 10 year old who must be in bed at 8 that their older sibling who is 17 gets to stay up until 10. God's convictions are based on a PERSONAL, and INTIMATE relationship with His children, who He knows better than anyone else in their life. He has a reason for everything. My job is not to question the work He is doing in somebody's life but to make sure that I am being obedient to what He has called me to do. AND not to judge others if they have not experienced the same calling or boundary in their life.
Application:
Do not JUDGE others for not being as convicted about health and wellness, naturopatheic healing, the perimeters they set for their children, the way they clean their house, the amount of time they spend watching TV, the tone in which they speak to their spouse, the food they eat, the way they worship, the way they serve, the way people believe, talk, think, act, love, struggle, the way they handle problems, addictions, the way people spend their money, the way they run their life. It is not my job to condemn, judge or talk about behind their back in disgust and disagreement. It is my job to LOVE.
Do not PUSH my convictions on other people. They have enough of their own to deal with. It is my job to OBEY that which the Lord has placed on my heart. That is enough to keep me completely occupied.
Prayer:
Lord,
Thank you for loving me even though I can be a stubborn child. Thank you for Your patience with me as I grow daily. Please help me to have the same patience and mercy with others as they grow in You at their own pace, Lord. Help me to be kind and to radiate Your love in all I do. Help me not to be judgmental or mean spirited towards Your children. Let me not cause others to stumble by my juvenile tendencies. Please fill me up and overflow from my cup. Keep me focused on You and my growth. Stamp out the spirit of self righteousness in me.
Amen
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