The Weak and the Strong

1

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

2

One man's faith allows him to eat everything,

but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

3

The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not,

and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn

the man who does, for God has accepted him.

4

Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master

he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man

considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

6

He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.

He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God;

and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

7

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.

8

If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.

So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life

so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10

You, then, why do you judge your brother?

Or why do you look down on your brother?

For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

11

It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord,

`every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"

12

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

13

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block

or obstacle in your brother's way.

14

As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that

no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something

as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

15

If your brother is distressed because of what you eat,

you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating

destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

16

Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,

but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

18

because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing

to God and approved by men.

19

Let us therefore make every effort to do

what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

20

Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.

All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything

that causes someone else to stumble.

21

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else

that will cause your brother to fall.

22

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.

Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

23

But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats,

because his eating is not from faith;

and everything that does not come from faith is sin.