As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
(Romans 14:1-4 ESV)
When God brings us together as the Church, each of us seeking to become holy vessels and servants who glorify Him, we will doubtlessly have differing opinions on what that holiness looks like. When your personal convictions and mine come face to face with one another, they will not always agree. What do we do then? We go back to the core issues of community in chapter 12: We are the body. It does no good to beat up other members of our body. We need to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit who indwells both me and the other person to work in both of us to help us see who is seeing things clearly, or if this is just a personal conviction or restraint God has for me and not for everyone. Community is not always easy, but it is the way God has of developing us all in the real world. May we receive the changes He wants to make through the input of others, and may we be loving and gracious instruments who allow Him to use us, even when we are not well-received at first.
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