Fri’s Devo - Choose Love

Read Romans 14-16
Reading Romans 14, I can’t help but think of child-raising. I am watching my children raise their babies and hearing all the opinions of them and their friends and think this chapter should be engraved on their walls. It could read: don’t judge a mother if she decides to bottle feed as opposed to nursing or don’t judge a family who gives their children Mc Donald’s instead of homegrown veggies. Don’t judge a parent who decides to send their children to public school or decide to home school….God accepts them all the same. So, lets not judge one another any more; but rather judge this, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. And, let us follow after the things that make for peace, and things that may edify one another. Let’s look for the good things others are doing and praise them on that. Everyone has to walk their own walk and listen to what God tells them to do. Not all of us are going to just eat veggies like Daniel, or eat meat like the priests, or eat what the raven bring us like Elijah. We have to do what we feel is right for us and our family and give others the freedom to do the same.
If we are the mature then we are to carry the scruples of conscience of the weak. In other words we are to take up for them when we hear others judging them. We can say things like, “if you knew where they came from you would understand. They have come a long way.” There is a way of rebuking someone with love where they don’t even know they have bee rebuked. They usually end up agreeing with you and pass on the words to the next naysayer. We are all in the school of the Holy Spirit and we are all growing so we need to be patient with one another.
Changing the mood, chapter 15 says that Jesus was a Jew to confirm the promises made to our forefathers that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy toward them. We are to rejoice with the Jews because Jesus was sent to us as well as the Jew.
Lord, may we be filled with goodness and all knowledge and also able to admonish one another.