Romans 14

1Welcome anyone whose faith is weak, but not in order to quarrel over their opinions. 2One person believes it is right to eat anything, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats must not look down on the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats, because God has welcomed that person. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? It is to their own master that they stand or fall. And they will stand, because the Lord has the power to keep them standing.

5One person regards one day as more important than another, while someone else regards every day as the same. Each person must be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever observes the day does so for the Lord. Those who eat do so for the Lord, since they give thanks to God; and those who abstain do so for the Lord, and they too give thanks to God.

7For not one of us lives for ourselves, and not one of us dies for ourselves. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. So, living or dying, we belong to the Lord. 9This is why Christ died and came to life: so that he would be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10You, then, why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister? We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bend before me, and every tongue will openly acknowledge God.” 12So each of us will have to give an account of ourselves.

13So let us stop judging one another. Use your judgment for this instead: never to put a stumbling block or a snare in the way of a brother or sister. 14I know, and in the Lord Jesus I am fully persuaded, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if someone considers a thing unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15If your brother or sister is being hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking in the way of love. Do not let what you eat bring ruin on someone for whom Christ died. 16So do not let the good thing you have be slandered. 17For the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking. It is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18Anyone who serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the approval of others. 19So let us pursue whatever makes for peace and whatever builds one another up. 20Do not pull down God’s work just for the sake of food. All food is clean, it is true, but it is wrong for anyone to eat in a way that makes another stumble. 21It is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that makes your brother or sister stumble or fall or become weak. 22Whatever faith you have about these things, keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves by what they approve. 23But anyone who has doubts and eats anyway stands condemned, because the eating does not come from faith. Whatever does not come from faith is sin.