Romans 14:13-19

March 16 – Romans 14:13-19
What is the essential part of our fellowship?  Do we find agreement in what we eat and drink and what days we observe as special and holy?  Or is there something more to our fellowship?

Paul wants us to guard how we live with each other.  What we eat and what we observe are secondary when considering our brothers and sisters.  Or rather, when we consider what Jesus Christ has done for our brothers and sisters we will treat them accordingly.  If eating meat means that my sister’s faith is weakened, I will never eat meat again.  Though no food is unclean, there are some who think it to be religiously unclean and seeing a brother eat it may cause them to stumble.

As Paul goes on to say, our fellowship comes not from the food we eat and the drinks we consume, but rather our fellowship and goal is the righteousness we share in Jesus Christ, and the peace we have together through God and the joy we have in the Holy Spirit.
 
Food does not make us acceptable in the sight of God, but rather whoever serves Christ does and thus we have approval of them.  We will strive together with them at all costs because what we share in Christ is more important than whatever customs and observances we may have.