![]() Live a life of faith and not of doubt (vv. If you are not sure, then stop doing them. You should be completely convinced that your activities honor God. In the final two verses of the chapter Paul gives us a final principle for making decisions. Remember that a mature Christian is one who has made a conscientious decision about whether they should or should not engage in a certain practice. But also realize that God can use these people to cause you to think about your activities. I pray that you are mature enough to know the difference between one who is trying to help you grow in maturity and one who wants to be a bully in the name of God. These overbearing brothers try to take the place of God in your life. They don’t want to let you live by faith in God, His Word, or the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, we probably all know Christians who are controlling and demanding. This also means that we should allow other Christians the liberty to live in the way God has led them. We should live for the sake of building up others and not just for our own desires and liberties (vv. The conclusion of the discussion is that we should abstain from those things that are a hindrance to others even if there is no other biblical command to abstain. Stay away from doubtful things and focus on building up other believers. Those are the activities that should captivate our attention. These things are righteousness, peace, joy and edification of other believers (vv. There are things in life that are more important than food or entertainment. This is the law of love: surrendering your own liberties for the benefit of those around you. ![]() Whether that is a stronger or weaker brother Paul says that maybe you should abstain from that activity for the other person’s sake (vv. Sometimes something that you have determined to be perfectly fine and appropriate is something your brother has determined to be wrong. Paul says to not put anything in our brother’s way that would cause him to stumble and fall (v. Instead of judging others we are instructed to judge our own action towards others. Read this article for how to pray for Guidance: 6 Christian Prayers for Guidance Love – Romans 14:13-19 I don’t need to make their decisions for them. And, I should step back and allow God to guide those around me. However, where God is silent on a subject, either in direct command or in principle, I should allow Him to guide me. God wants us to assemble together and learn from one another (Hebrews 10:25). We know God uses others to point us in the right direction (Proverbs 11:14 15:22). I certainly need other people to stand near me and show me what God has to say about certain things. I need God and His Word giving direction in my life. Each one of us will stand before God to be judged by Him (vv. I don’t need to step into someone’s life and pretend that I am their authority (v. Christ died so that He could be the one to lead us. ![]() Paul says we no longer live for ourselves (vv. We have a God and Savior who love us and have laid claim on our lives (1 Corinthians 6:20 7:23). Maturity comes when you have given serious thought to participate in or abstain from certain activities (vv. Being completely convinced that you are honoring God in your actions is the key. God should be the focus and not the food or special day. Whether someone celebrates a holiday in the same way as you do is not as important as honoring God in your celebration. Paul gives us another example in honoring special days. They belong to God therefore, allow God to be responsible for His own people (v. Paul tells us not to judge one another, but to make the decision to eat and drink based on how the Holy Spirit is guiding us (vv. We are given the freedom to chose in those areas that the Bible does not directly address. However, it is the attitude that a person has in eating (or any other activity) that can defile his body (Matthew 15:10-20). In this maturity some have come to the place where they realize that the food going into the body is not what makes something clean or unclean. Here he is referring to their spiritual maturity and not their physical condition. In his example he says that some Christians are stronger and some weaker than others. But the application is to many more things than just food. Paul (the writer of Romans) uses food as an example in these verses. For Romans 14 the title was “Doubtful Things.” Freedom – Romans 14:1-6 I had a title that I used to help me memorize the contents of each chapter. ![]() I remember very clearly studying the book of Romans in my second year of Bible college.
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