Freedom and Consideration

Day 212: Romans 14:1-23

“While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord.” - Romans 14:8 ESV

The epitome of naivety is found in thinking that the way we live our lives has little or no effect on anyone else. The best life God wants us to live always lives in recognition that our lives impact others. There is a ripple effect that happens with each decision we make, positively or negatively affecting many people for years to come.

So the idea of “let me live my life, and I’ll let you live yours” as a Christian is incorrect.

Ultimately, we live our lives to please Jesus; but we also are considerate of others in order to fully please our Lord and to help other Jesus followers grow.

Romans 14 walks the line of (1) not wanting to try and control each other’s behavior and (2) not wanting to act like their behavior (and our own) doesn’t matter.

Jesus expects every action we make to be made in faith (14:23).

"Because Paul is concerned about those weak in faith (14:1), the doubters (14:23), he advises the 'strong' not only to avoid terminally tripping them up in their faith (14:13) but to actively support them (15:1)."
- Keener, C. S. (2009). Romans (p. 169)

The Christian life is one of freedom and consideration.

We will definitely need help from the Holy Spirit for this important work.