S2. E14. Romans 14 (part 1)
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Your Daily Bread Podcast: [00:00:00] You could be eating very nutrient dense things, but it doesn't mean that you're eating in a way that honors and glorifies God or eating, partnered with the Holy Spirit because it's not leading to the fruits of the spirit.
Your Daily Bread Podcast: Hello. Hello. Welcome back to Your Daily Bread podcast, y'all. I am so excited to be kicking off June with a series, and we are going to be for the next four weeks, diving into Romans 14. This whole chapter [00:01:00] is so. So good. All about our relationship with food, our heart posture for approaching eating. How do we approach other believers that eat differently than us and have different convictions than us?
And what foods are acceptable to eat and which ones aren't? And how do we navigate that when we are filled with a world with so many different foods? And it can be really hard to sift through, what is quote unquote healthy or unhealthy. What's quote unquote good or bad, what does the Lord want us to eat?
And Romans 14 gives us so much insight. So we honestly could study Romans 14 for a long time, but we're just taking the month of June for now, and I'm going to be breaking this down into four or five different weeks. Because there's so many different aspects. What I'm gonna do today as we kick off this series is I'm going to read all of Romans 14, and it's not too long.
It's only 23 verses. So I'm going to quickly read through [00:02:00] that and then I'm just gonna hone in on a couple verses for our first topic or theme for today. Because when breaking this down and going through this with the Lord, he revealed to me five different themes that are illuminated. In Romans 14 and I'm sure that there are more, but, he really just gave me five main ones.
So let me read through the whole thing first, then we'll hone in on a couple verses and then in subsequent weeks we will just study different parts of it as well. I am going to be reading from the NLT version, but I will pray as soon as we get started. Father God, thank you for your word, Lord.
Ah, thank you Jesus for the living word. And thank you for. Opening my eyes, Lord, to this verse. Thank you for your wisdom and revelations with this verse, and I pray that as we go into this series that your word is illuminated and things just jump off the page for every listener on the other end of this, and that you speak so [00:03:00] personally into their situation.
We are just so grateful that the Bible, Lord, your Word gives us. Direction and guidance into how you want us to steward our bodies. Thank you for being so specific and so kind, Lord, to be clear on how to, how to eat and how to steward our bodies in a world where there is so much confusion. Lord, we just praise you and thank you that you are not a God of confusion and that you are a God of clarity.
And we know that, Lord, to be clear, is to be kind in your heart You are so kind. So thank you, Lord. I pray that everything that is said today, that it, and throughout this whole series, Lord, that is not what I want to say, but is what you want to say through me. And I pray that your Holy Spirit just works in me Lord, and does what only your Spirit can do.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. let's dive into Romans 14. I'm reading from the NLT version. Accept other believers who are weak in faith and don't argue with them about what they think is right or [00:04:00] wrong. For instance, one person believes it is all right to eat anything but another believer with a sensitive conscience will only eat vegetables.
those who feel free to eat anything, must not look down on those who don't, and those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn. Those who do for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall, and with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval in the same way.
Some think one day as more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day, do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord since they give thanks to God before eating, and those who [00:05:00] refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God for we don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves.
If we live, it is to honor the Lord. And if we die, it is to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose to be Lord, both of the living and of the dead. So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer?
Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the scriptures, say, as surely as I live says the Lord. Every knee will bend to me and every tongue will declare allegiance to God. Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God, so let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead [00:06:00] to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus. That no food in and of itself is wrong to eat, and if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love. If you eat it, don't let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died.
Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God and others will approve of you too.
So then let us aim for harmony in the [00:07:00] church and try to build each other up. Do not tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable but is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.
You may believe there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God Blessed. Are those who don't feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning. If you go ahead and do it for you are not following your convictions.
If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. Hmm, y'all, that is a fire word. Honestly. Paul ate with that. Paul ate [00:08:00] slayed with that. Honestly. I mean the whole Bible, slays, Romans, especially slaves, and Romans 14 holds. I hold this chapter in very, very high regard. We're gonna be honing in today on.
Where he says that we are not to look down on or condemn or judge another believer for how they eat. We know that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. So to hone in on verses three to four, 10 to 13 in 19 and 20, they say those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't.
And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those. who do, for God has accepted them, who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall, and with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval. And right before that, in verse two, it said, don't.
Condemn another believer if they eat vegetables or if they don't just [00:09:00] eat vegetables, eat other things. This goes to show that there is not one diet that is right for everybody. There is not a one size fits all approach. We are all going to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. A little different, even down to what days , people see as like acceptable or not.
But when you're doing things for the glory of God, one Corinthians 10 31 says, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God. And when That is your purpose to give God glory, it matters less about what you eat, and it's more about your heart posture for why you're eating that certain food.
And we've talked about this on the show before, that if you're eating salads every day, like you're not holier than thou because you could be eating anything. If it's to give God glory or even if you're, if you give thanks to God before eating, that gives him the glory and honor.
And so it's okay if you eat a cookie. And if you're eating a salad for the purpose of losing weight and for aesthetics, that's not for giving God the glory. [00:10:00] If you're restricting your eating today because you overate yesterday, you're not allowing God's mercy to be new for you every day. You're not allowing yourself to be washed with the blood and redeemed, and you're not eating for the glory of God.
You're eating to undo what you did yesterday. Eating outta fear, restriction, and shame.
But I really wanna hone in on that. We should not condemn those who eat differently because it says for God has accepted them. And it's also not really our place to condemn another way because we are not the judge. What we are called to be instead is a witness we can always share. I mean, we should be spirit led in sharing our testimonies, but we are called to be a witness.
And hey, this is what works for me and my body. This is what the Holy Spirit has convicted me of, and this is what works for me. And just modeling that and not pushing that on, or pressuring another believer to eat in a certain way to eat how you eat. Because what works for [00:11:00] one person might not work for another person.
And so we need to make sure that we're in the right seat. We're not called to be the judge. And we're not even called to be the lawyer to defend. We're called to be a witness. This is what I have seen. 'cause you can really only speak to your experience and then with verses 10 to 13. So why do you condemn another believer?
Why do you look down at another believer? Remember that we'll all stand before the judgment seed of God. So let's stop condemning each other instead. Live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
And then it goes on to say, so then let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. I think we focus so much on criticizing people for what they eat and neglecting some of these larger issues. That we have in the church and directing our energy towards attacking the enemy.
So it's really, [00:12:00] really important that you allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas of your life where maybe you have been a little judgmental for how people eat. And I've even seen this with clients that start. Eating in a Holy Spirit led way. They allow themselves to eat all foods and they're really working on earnestly healing their relationship with food and no longer restricting and getting away from eating disorders and disordered eating and diet culture and all of that.
But then they'll look at their family members who are in the thick of diet culture and start judging them for doing juice cleanses and things like that. I go, oh, 'cause like obviously those things. Don't work. And it's great that you've had these revelations that you know that those diets won't work for you.
But we are not to judge other people that are still bound by diet culture because it is not them. It is the spirit of diet, culture, the spirit of restriction, the enemy working in them and has them blinded to God's true way of eating, which is [00:13:00] walking in food freedom. So instead of judging other believers, take compassion on them and see that it is not them, but it is the enemy working in them.
And now start interceding for them. Pray for them that the scales fall off their eyes and that the veil is lifted and they can see that their way of eating is not God's best for them instead of judging other people for still being caught in diet culture. And I also see it the other way around too, where people in the church And we've talked about this on the show before too, they'll be judging other people for eating calorie dense foods and sweets and things like that. And we don't wanna be that person. We are so quick to criticize people for what they eat without looking at the fruit that it's producing. And I talked about this in our episode earlier this season, the fruit test.
And I said, you have to look at the fruit that. What you're eating is producing because if you're eating in a way that leads to more restriction, more guilt, more shame, more anxiety, you're not eating in a [00:14:00] godly way. You could be eating very nutrient dense things, but it doesn't mean that you're eating in a way that honors and glorifies God or eating, partnered with the Holy Spirit because it's not leading to the fruits of the spirit.
But if you're eating in a way that leads to more peace, more joy, more love for yourself, love for God, that leads to kind and gentle self-talk that leads to natural self-control, that you don't have to strive for eating in a way that leads to patience and you don't have to rush through meals. That's a better indicator.
It sounds like you're eating in a more godly way, so let us stop judging other people and condemning other believers. And instead, let's aim for harmony in the church. Let's build each other up. Let's be a witness to what the Lord has revealed in us and not pressure other people to eat in a way that how we eat, because we're all gonna have different convictions.
And we'll be able to dive into that more throughout our Romans 14 series. But I hope that this has been helpful for you today, and I look forward to diving more into Romans [00:15:00] 14 next week. And if you know that you need help with this. Healing your relationship with food and walking in the freedom that God has for you, then head to the show notes and book a free food Freedom in Christ.
Call with me. and it's totally for free. You and I will get on Zoom, we'll walk through how you're currently eating, what you're currently struggling with when it comes to eating, and I'll give you some initial nutrition tips and also. I will give you some initial scriptures to meditate on, pray for you, and help you kickstart your journey to finding food freedom in Christ.
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