Believers must not judge one another
1There are believers whose faith is not strong and who sometimes doubt. You must accept them. Maybe they do not think the same as you about some things and maybe they think they are right. Do not argue with them about it. 2Some believers believe they may eat anything, but some believers' faith is not strong and they think they may eat only vegetables. 3The believers who eat anything must not think that they are better than the believers who do not eat all kinds of food, and the believers who do not eat all kinds of food must not judge the believers who eat anything, because God has also accepted the believers who eat anything. 4You can not decide if someone's slave has done right or wrong. His owner must decide that. Therefore, do not worry about those who eat anything, because the Lord can help them to keep on believing.
5There are believers who think that one of the days of the week is more important than the other days, and there are believers who think that every day of the week is the same. They must all make sure that what they think is right. 6The believers who think that one day of a week is more important than the other days do this to serve the Lord and they thank the Lord for it. And the believers who eat anything do it to serve the Lord and they thank God for it. And the believers who eat only vegetables do it to serve the Lord and they thank God for it. 7We do not live to serve ourselves and we do not die to serve ourselves. 8While we live, we live to serve the Lord, and when we die, we die to serve the Lord. Yes, while we live, we belong to the Lord and when we die, we belong to the Lord. 9Christ died and He started to live again so that He can rule over everyone, those who have died and those who are alive. 10Don't tell other believers that they are wrong, and don't think that you are better than other believers. Remember that God will judge every one of us on that day when we will stand in front of Him, the Judge. 11It will be like it is written in the Old_Testament:
‘The Lord said: “I promised Myself
and I said:
Every knee will bow before Me,
and every person will say
that he knows I am God.” ’
12This means that each one of us will have to explain to God about all the things that we have done, each one for himself.
Don't cause other believers to do wrong
13The believers with strong faith must stop telling the other believers with weak faith that they are doing wrong. And the believers with weak faith must stop saying that the believers with strong faith are doing wrong. You must decide that you will not do something that will make it difficult for other believers to keep on believing, or that will make other believers sin. 14I belong to the Lord Jesus and He has shown me that no food is impure, but if people think that something is impure, then it is impure for them. 15If you eat something and some believers do not like you eating it and they feel hurt or sad, then you are not showing that you love them. Do not eat any food if you know that other believers will have a problem with it or if another Christian will stop believing in Christ, because Christ died so that those believers can have eternal_life. 16You must not do something that makes other people say bad things about the good things that God has given you. 17Because the things we eat and drink are not important and will not_matter where God, the King, rules. What is important is that God has made us righteous and has given us his peace and that He makes all of us who have the Holy_Spirit rejoice. 18If we serve Christ like this, God will be pleased with us, and other people will respect us.
19That is why we must do what brings peace and do things that will help other believers and make their faith strong. 20The things you eat and drink must not break down or stop the good things that God has done. Remember that all food is pure, but if you eat something that makes another believer sin, then you are doing wrong, so don't eat it. 21It is better not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything that makes other believers sin.
22You believe that you know what you may do and what you should not do. Don't tell that to everyone. Only God should know it. A person who does something and thinks he is doing right and does not feel guilty about it is a happy person. 23But if someone eats food and he doubts if he may do it, then he is doing wrong, and he should not do it, because he is doing something, but he does not believe that it is right. If you believe something is not right but you still do it, then it is a sin.
