Journal Entry # 7 | Love For One Another

The following is a revised entry is from one of my old journals. I have felt that I should be going through these scripture journals to reflect on what God has brought me through and taught me over the past few years. My hope is that they may bring you all some form of encouragement, or at the least, inspire you to look through your own journals to see what God has brought you through. It is great to reflect on the past, but we must always be striving to be better today!

Here is my old entry, which came from reading the passage of Romans 14:1-23, 15:1-13:

Love For One Another

It is really easy to look at a person’s actions and begin to make our own judgments about them, but really, we are called to focus on our own intentions and heart, and leave other peoples to be judged by God.

In the passage of Romans 14 and 15, this problem of people eating food that others thought were “unclean” had arised. Both sides of the problem began judging the others hearts and actions. But Paul states in Romans 14: 7-8, that we are to ultimately live our lives for Jesus;

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 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. -Romans 14:7-8

It is our duty to only worry about the heart of ourselves, and let God do the judging of the hearts of others. Instead of judging each other, we are called to love one another. We also have an obligation to help remove stumbling blocks from our fellow brothers and sisters paths if we can (Romans 14:13).

To solve the problem of the “Unclean Food”, Paul told the people that eating the food was fine for themselves, but since it was causing others to stumble, they were in the wrong (Romans 14:15). We should not let these things get in the way of loving one another, which is such an important part of living for Jesus.

Are there any things that you do that you know in your heart are completely OK for you, but might be causing others to stumble? I encourage you all, and even myself, to start examining these actions, and see if we are causing someone else to stumble from continuing to do these things.

In God’s Love and Grace

Colton