²Some people believe that they can eat all kinds of food. Other people with weak faith believe that they can eat only vegetables. ³People who eat all foods should not despise people who eat only vegetables. In the same way, the vegetarians should not criticize people who eat all foods, because God has accepted those people. ⁴Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? The Lord will determine whether his servant has been successful. The servant will be successful because the Lord makes him successful.

⁵One person decides that one day is holier than another. Another person decides that all days are the same. Every person must make his own decision. ⁶When people observe a special day, they observe it to honor the Lord. When people eat all kinds of foods, they honor the Lord as they eat, since they give thanks to God. Vegetarians also honor the Lord when they eat, and they, too, give thanks to God. ⁷It’s clear that we don’t live to honor ourselves, and we don’t die to honor ourselves. ⁸If we live, we honor the Lord, and if we die, we honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹For this reason Christ died and came back to life so that he would be the Lord of both the living and the dead.

¹⁰Why do you criticize or despise other Christians? Everyone will stand in front of God to be judged. ¹¹Scripture says,

“As certainly as I live, says the Lord,

everyone will worship me,

and everyone will praise God.”

¹²All of us will have to give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³So let’s stop criticizing each other. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make other Christians have doubts or lose their faith.

¹⁴The Lord Jesus has given me the knowledge and conviction that no food is unacceptable in and of itself. But it is unacceptable to a person who thinks it is. ¹⁵So if what you eat hurts another Christian, you are no longer living by love. Don’t destroy anyone by what you eat. Christ died for that person. ¹⁶Don’t allow anyone to say that what you consider good is evil.

¹⁷God’s kingdom does not consist of what a person eats or drinks. Rather, God’s kingdom consists of God’s approval and peace, as well as the joy that the Holy Spirit gives.

Read in Logos