Faith, Love and Mutual Edification (Romans 14:20-23)
In the final verses of Romans 14, the apostle Paul continues to emphasize the importance of unity in the community of believers, as well as their shared responsibilities, over our freedom and individual rights. The following are the key points from the last part of the chapter that I want to share with you:
- The Work of God (a.k.a. the Church) and its continuing growth in unity, love, and holiness, is more important than my ideas of how things need to be done or how to live out my faith (v. 20).
- My brother in Christ is more important than any of my liberties. I will not say anything and I will not do anything that could make him stumble and fall (v. 20-21).
- There are things that I need to keep between God and myself. I need to accept that there are situations where the best thing I could do is to keep my mouth shut (v. 22). (I encourage you to read and meditate on James 1:19.)
- I need to cultivate my faith and convictions based on the Word of God to never act on doubt and unbelief. That’s just a type of hypocrisy. And I need to understand where my actions and behavior come from. If it doesn’t come from faith, then it will become just sinful (v. 23).
As we see in these verses, faith is the key. Both faith, hope, and love must go hand in hand in our Christian life. Our faith in Jesus, the hope of his prompt return and the love that He has poured into our hearts and through which we can love others. Ask the Holy Spirit this week for different opportunities in which you can show the love of God to another person.
