Loving those who are weak in the faith

From: January, 2004

THEME: Loving those who are weak in the faith Romans 14:1 – 23 The main point here isn’t whether to eat or not to eat pork meat. Here Paul wanted to make the people understand something more spiritual that deals with love and unity within the body of Christ. Paul wasn’t interested in changing their ways of life. He wanted to preserve the unity between the body of Christ, the church. We are gentiles and not Jewish like Paul. And many Christians in Rome were not Jewish. What’s important here is that we are all in Christ and for God there is no difference between Jewish and gentiles. Ephesians 2:11 – 14 It looks like there were discussions and divisions between the Jewish and the gentiles because of food; some apparently were spiritual and strong in faith and others were less spiritual and weak in faith. But when we reach spiritual maturity we do not argue. Arguments bring nothing good. And the point isn’t what we are discussing about, but what those who are listening can understand. Discussions do not edify. If we get into conflicts, this does not work for good. If we preach the gospel, we have to understand that preaching is not to impose, but to convince. This is why we must be careful how we speak and treat those who are listening; especially with our family in the faith, the church. There are subjects worthless of speaking, that does not help in reaching a good relationship with others, and should not be brought up. An example of this is when a wife reminds her husband about his past sins. This does not help in a relationship. God takes us and teaches us to be wise and sensible, judicious as we speak. The Holy Spirit teaches us to be mature. And as we reach maturity, we learn to say NO to some things and we also learn that there are some that are not even worth stopping for. Because these things can only make us fall into what is wrong. And if we let this happen, we will not be able to go on, for this life is for us to grow, and not to fall. If we are not careful and we don’t learn to love those who are weak in faith, we act wrongly. We fall into conflicts and vain discussions. Then the time will come when our communion will break and we will draw them away. We don’t want this to happen. If we love our brothers and sisters in Christ the way Christ does, we will also know how to love those who are weak. Never forget that we only have one life to live. When we learn how to have communion with the body of Christ, we are able to help and live in peace and joy with one another. Let us take good care of this relationship that God has given us as a family in the faith. Sometimes we believe we are the ones that have to do all the talking, but this is not true. Our brothers/sisters in Christ must also speak what they must speak. A believer’s life is of great price. If there is no communion with others, we will be wasting our lives. And life is very difficult to waste in little insignificant things. We all have a path we need to walk, but each one of us has to walk at a pace. Some have more faith than others, but that doesn’t mean we stop being part of the family. If we don’t understand this, we will find ourselves tripping over little things that are worthless. We should receive our brothers and sisters in Christ not to contend, but to live in peace and joy. Embrace them (receive them with a hug). And as we receive them, we should not be looking for our own personal

benefits, looking for what we may obtain from them. This would be to tempt God. The body of Christ does not gather to contend, but to share in harmony. According to Romans 14, in Rome we can see that the Jewish had a series of knowledge about the law, but the gentiles didn’t even know what was pure, impure or holy. Then what happened was that when a brother in Christ who was weak in faith arrived and found himself in the middle of the discussion, this would cause him to move away from God. We Christian must be careful about this and learn to tolerate. If you learn to tolerate your brother he will not walk away from God and he will be there for you when you are in need. There must be prayer in your life each day and you must live with a broken spirit before God to be able to tolerate. To tolerate is to know how to carry, lead your brother. Then nothing in your life will be more important than your brother in Christ, he will have a fundamental place. When someone is hurting there is only pain. Not even food is important in that moment. And if there is tolerance in you, you can bring healing. We serve, for we are servants of the Lord. We are sheep who belong to God. (We owe ourselves to God). This is why God defends our life. We are not masters, but servants of the Lord. God has given us our own life and he will sustain us with power and great care. Then who are you to judge someone else’s servant? Each one of us has to go through our own process and each process is unique. So, we must not stick our hand where they don’t belong. Vs. 12. When someone stumbles, do not rejoice. When a righteous falls it is not of happiness. A fall brings only pain. “To his own master he stands or falls.” Vs. 13. “And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Vs. 4. Who dares to judge? In this world people judge everything. When we start to judge everything, we break the communion. There can no longer be an honest look, it destroys everything. And who falls to his own master falls and he will stand. The servant belongs to his master. We must understand the word for it is the truth. Some make differences between the days and bring discussions about it. Vs. 5. We must understand that God created each day. And we no longer live for ourselves, but for the Lord. Who can be greater in this world? Who died and resurrected for us was Jesus Christ our Lord and he paid the price. Then powerful is He to make me remain still. Sometimes we do not value our brothers in Christ. We should not look down on them. Remember that the Lord died for the one that is next to you and that we will all stand before God’s judgment seat and will be hold accountable for what we have done or what we have not done. In the mean time we should not judge our brothers or make them stumble. Why must you hate your brother? He who died for my brother is the same one who has loved my soul. Then I must not make others stumble, but love them. When we love others, we deny ourselves. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Then you and I must move the kingdom of God for blessing. If we work to bring peace, we are building for us and others. We must not destroy God’s work. For the love of a brother there are rights that we have to give up. Let us escape from evil and love our family in Christ and it will be better for our lives. Let us give with all our hearts of what we have received from God. If we love, we will gain. AMEN.