Do Not Judge Another
1Welcome those who are weak in faithg but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.* 2Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.* 3Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. 4Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lordh is able to make them stand.
5Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.*
7For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.* 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.*
10Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.i,* 11For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
12So then, each one of us will be held accountable.k,*
Do Not Make Another Stumble
13Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister.* 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who considers it unclean.* 15If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16So do not let your good be slandered. 17For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.* 18The one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and has human approval.* 19Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.* 20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong to make someone stumble by what you eat; 21it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.l,* 22Hold the conviction that you have as your own before God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves because of what they approve. 23But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat because they do not act from faith,m for whatever does not proceed from faithn is sin.o