“10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. 11. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
In the context of Romans chapter sixteen it seems that Paul is addressing believers in regard to how they are treating each other. Its very important to remember that every believer in Christ is different in many ways. Not every one lives exactly like you do. Among the church there are many different people on many different spiritual levels. A young Christian that is trying to serve the Lord may not understand everything like you do and God doesn’t need you to hover over them to make sure they are doing everything the way you think they should do it. In this chapter of scripture it appears there are some young Jewish believers that are still following God in their meat according to Old Testament Law. Pork would have been and Old Testament meat that was forbidden to eat. In the book of Acts God told Peter to “Rise, kill and eat”. The Old Testament Law was lifted at that point concerning unclean meat. If God had not brought a new believer to that understanding yet, Paul is telling us “don’t judge your brother”. If God has not brought them to that biblical understanding, why would you judge them? Remember you have to give an account at the judgement seat of Christ for how you live your life, not how someone else lives theirs. How could we apply this passage to the 21st century? Let’s say you and your buddy have hunted together for years, you are both saved and serving the Lord. As deer season approaches you realize your buddy has made a decision not to deer hunt this year because it has been hurting his family and finances. You may even find out he has prayed to the Lord and gave Him a commitment that he will not hunt this season. Why would you as his saved friend want to be a stumblingblock to him? Every day, leading up to the day season opens, you tell him all the reasons why he needs to hunt, you even offer to buy his tags and all the expenses for the hunting trip you always take. Its important to realize that hunting is not sin, but it can be! If your friend is having a struggle with hunting controlling him, why would you want to be a stumbling block? Some believers have harder struggles with things than others, don’t be that stumbling block. Another example could be a friend that is trying to fast, but is having a struggle with it, why would you want to hang food over his head or jokingly ridicule him for what he is doing. You will have to answer for you sin as a believer, don’t judge your brother for how he serves the Lord, you may come to realize that you are the one doing it wrong. Whether your spiritual level is higher or lower, pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ and be an encouragement to them!
Memory Verse Week 2/18/19
Romans 14:10
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.”
