Posted on 04/04/2007 10:15:14 AM PDT by Quix
Thanks tons.
I have things reduced to a minimum except for quizzes weekly and a brief net research article summary and response every 2 weeks—plus attendance cards I ask them 5-7 questions designed to make them think and apply the chapter to their lives . . . and all that I put on a gradesheet from XCell every class session. Is usually about an hour-2 hours worth of work. Not bad, imho.
Thanks for your helpfulness.
LUB,
D
Context of Romans 14:13
5: One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind.
6: He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
7: None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
8: 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 shall 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 give praise to God.”
12: So each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13: Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
14: I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean.
15: If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.
16: So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.
17: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
(I forgot to ping on verse of the day!)
I love #8 and #13.
Some people get upset because our brothers in Christ do things in different ways than us, but Paul tells us that since they are doing it for the Lord, it’s not necessarily good to get in a flutter about it.
But Paul also tells us to be careful not to be creating things that make our brothers stumble because of our actions.
The original context here was with food offered to idols, but it has other applications.
There’s a mutuality here...on some issues, we are too easily offended by what our brothers do. On some issues we can be too thick skinned and not see the things we do hurt our brothers.
Of course we can’t live our lives entirely worrying about what others are going to think. But on the other hand we need to consider it.
One way to look at it is to see the context of points Paul is making:
The first point Paul makes has to do with religious observance...things done for the glory of God. The second point Paul makes deals with dealing with the world...Are we doing things with our lives that trouble our brothers because of how we make our way in the world?
Loving people need to know when to be thin-skinned (sensitive about their brothers) and thick-skinned, when to be slow to take offense. This is one of the important ways we can demonstrate our love to each other.
Well done.
Much appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you so much for those beautiful Scriptures and for today’s meditation!
Am pretty busy for most of the day as was yesterday. Knitting is out of town. Will try and get back to the ONE ANOTHER’s this evening.
Blessings,
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