⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if 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. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. ¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” ¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Romans 14:5-12

Paul continues to help us understand in this chapter that judging each other is wrong because these things are matters of conscience. We often treat people wrongly because we judged them wrongly. We think we know what they are doing. We think we know their intentions.

A little story from Bible.org: A young boy came into a resturaunt to get ice cream with only change in his pocket. He asked the waitress for the cost of an ice cream sunday. She told him. He pulled out the change from his pocket to count it. The waitress was getting impatient and frustrated she had other customers to get too. He asked for the cost of just plain ice cream. She told him. He said, I will take that. She brought him the ice cream and he paid. After he left, the waitress felt bad, he had left the rest of his change for her. He sacrificed the bigger ice cream so that he could leave her a tip.

Whatever she had been thinking about this boy – she was judging him unjustly. He was doing kindness to her. We have no idea what the motives of the heart are.

In the non-essential things – Paul says let each be convinced in there own mind. Whether we do or don’t do, we are to do them unto the Lord. Christ died to bring us freedom, so why do you judge your brother? If it isnt about our main tenets of faith. Let it be. It would be wise of us to learn to stop looking at what every one else is doing and judging or trying convince them that our way is the right way and start walking in the love of Christ toward one another. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of ourselves.

Be kind, do good!

Thanks for Listening,

Starla