Romans 14:8-19

⁸While we live, it is the Lord whom we belong to and should be trying to please, and not just ourselves. And when we die, it is the Lord whom we should be trying to please. So, while we live and also when we die, we should be trying to please the Lord to whom we belong, not just ourselves,

⁹because the very purpose for which Christ died and became alive again is that he might be Lord whom all people should try to please, both of those who have already died and of those who are still living.

¹⁰◄It is disgraceful that you who practice certain religious regulations say that God will punish your fellow believers who do not practice those regulations!/Why do you who practice certain religious regulations say God will punish your fellow believers who do not practice such regulations?► RHQ I say this because the time will come when all of us will stand before God in order that he will say whether or not he approves MTY of what we have done. So you who do not practice such regulations, ◄should not despise your fellow believers who practice them!/why do you despise your fellow believers who practice them?► RHQ

¹¹We know this because it is written { a prophet/Isaiah wrote} what God has said: Everyone will bow down before me! That is as certain as the fact that I live IDM! Everyone SYN will acknowledge that because I am God, I have the right to judge and punish people.

¹²So it is clear that it is God who will decide whether or not he approves of what each of us has done.

¹³Since it is God who will judge everyone, we must stop saying that God should punish some of our fellow believers! Instead, you/we should decide that you/we will not do anything that would be an example that might cause fellow believers to stop trusting in God DOU.

¹⁴I am absolutely certain DOU because of my close relationship with (OR, my belonging to) the Lord Jesus that there is nothing that by itself is wrong to eat. But if people think it is wrong to eat something, then to them it is wrong to eat it. So you should not encourage them to eat it.

¹⁵If you eat food MET that anyone for whom Christ died thinks that it is wrong to eat, that person might be encouraged { you might be encouraging that person} to do something that he believes is wrong. As a result, you might cause that fellow believer to stop trusting in God. In that way he would be ruined spiritually just because you have stopped behaving as one who loves others should behave!

¹⁶Similarly, do not do something that you think is good if, as a result, your fellow believer would sin and then others would speak evil of you who say that you are Christians.

¹⁷Letting God rule our lives MET does not mean that we must obey regulations about eating or drinking something! Instead, it means we must live righteously, act peacefully towards others, and be joyful by the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Those who serve Christ by acting in such ways please God, and others will also respect them.

¹⁹So we should always eagerly try to live in a way that will cause peace among fellow Christians, and we should try to do what will help each other to mature spiritually.