\u201cAs I live and breathe,\u201d God says,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cevery knee will bow before me;<\/span><\/span>
\nEvery tongue will tell the honest truth<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>that I and only I am God.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So tend to your knitting. You\u2019ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.<\/span><\/p>\n

^{13-14\u00a0<\/sup>Forget about deciding what\u2019s right for each other. Here\u2019s what you need to be concerned about: that you don\u2019t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I\u2019m convinced\u2014Jesus convinced me!\u2014that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.<\/span><\/p>\n}

^{15-16\u00a0<\/sup>If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don\u2019t eat, you\u2019re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don\u2019t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!<\/span><\/p>\n}

^{17-18\u00a0<\/sup>God\u2019s kingdom isn\u2019t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness\u2019 sake. It\u2019s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you\u2019ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.<\/span><\/p>\n}

^{19-21\u00a0<\/sup>So let\u2019s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don\u2019t drag them down by finding fault. You\u2019re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God\u2019s work among you, are you? I said it before and I\u2019ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don\u2019t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.<\/span><\/p>\n}

^{22-23\u00a0<\/sup>Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don\u2019t impose it on others. You\u2019re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you\u2019re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe\u2014some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them\u2014then you know that you\u2019re out of line. If the way you live isn\u2019t consistent with what you believe, then it\u2019s wrong.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n}

I encourage all of you to really think about how we treat our family and friends when it comes to their food choices. If we ridicule them, or shame them, or make them look bad on social media or at the coffee shop, we are not pleasing God. He knows what’s in our hearts, and certainly knows what comes out of our mouths…or keyboards. As it says in the passage above, “Eventually, we\u2019re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren\u2019t going to improve your position there one bit.<\/span>” Let’s work on building each other up, and showing Jesus’ love through our words and our actions.<\/p>\n

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