1I will answer your next question now, about those statues that some people make. They think those statues are gods, and they give food to them, and they reckon the statues give that food power. Then those people eat that food, or they sell it to other people. And you Christians asked me, “Can we eat that food that they gave to those statues?” That’s what you asked me. Well, before I answer your question, I want you to remember this. All of us know something, but if we think we know more than other people, we start thinking wrong, like we reckon we are really smart. No, we can’t try to be smart. Instead, we have to love people. If we love other people, it helps them to get strong.
2So if you reckon you know all about everything, you don’t really know much at all. You’ve got to learn a lot more yet.
3But if you love God, then God really knows you, like you are his good friend.
4All right, now I will answer your question about the food that people give to those statues that they think are gods. We Christians know that a statue is not really a god at all. We know that there is only the one God.
5But some people that are not Christians respect lots of spirits, spirits in the sky and spirits on the earth, and they think those spirits are gods, and they let those spirits be their bosses. And people make statues that they think look like those spirits, and they think those statues get power from those spirits.
6But we Christians know that those statues are nothing at all. We know there is only one God. He is our Father. He made everything, and we want to do whatever he wants, as long as we live. And there is only one true boss. He is Jesus Christ. He worked with God and they made everything, and he gives us Christians life.
7But some Christians don’t understand all that. They showed respect to those statues for a long time before they became Christians, and then they believed in Jesus, but they still think those statues have power. They can’t work out what is right and what is wrong. They know that it is wrong to respect those statues, so they don’t eat any of the food that people give to those statues. They think that if they do eat that food they are doing something wrong, and it makes them feel bad, like they are not clean.
8But it doesn’t matter if we eat that food or not. We will not get anything special if we eat it, and we will not miss out on anything if we don’t eat it. You see, no food can help us be close friends with God.
9But you have to be very careful. Even though you are free to eat anything, you have to think about those Christians that can’t work out what is right and what is wrong. You don’t want to make them go wrong.
10It’s like this. Some of you Christians know it’s all right to eat food in that place where people show respect to those statues. But if you go and eat that food, another Christian might see you there. If that other Christian doesn’t know what to think about that food, he might think that you are showing respect to that statue when you eat that food, so that Christian will think it’s alright to show respect to that statue. And he will do that, he will to show respect to that statue, and he will go wrong.
11So you will wreck that other Christian that is not so sure about these things. You know that food has no power, but if you eat it, and that makes another Christian go wrong, you wreck that person, and you are doing wrong. Jesus Christ died for that person.
12You see, if other Christians are not sure what is right or wrong, and if they see what you do, and if this gets them to do something wrong, you are really bad. If you hurt them like this, you are really hurting Jesus Christ. Don’t do that.
13So this is what I have decided for myself. Every other Christian is like a brother or a sister to me, so I will not eat anything that gets them to go wrong. If something that I want to eat might get another Christian to do something wrong, I will not ever eat it, as long as I live.
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