Romans 15:1-3

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

Personal Challenge

Christ gave us only two commandments to live by if we are to claim to be His followers. They are to love our God and to love our neighbor. Everything that we can do in our lives to glorify God falls into these two actions. Paul reminds us of this when he instructs the Christians of Rome to be strong for those around them who are weak and to bear with their weaknesses. This bearing is not just putting up with them, but lifting them up in their weaknesses and helping them to be stronger. This is what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross so that He could bear our sins for us. Clear commands and expectations, but a lifetime of struggle and humbling to live them out. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Romans 14:19

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

Personal Challenge

One mistake that we, the modern Christian, often make is to fall into the mindset that now that we are a Christian, God will do everything for us. This is not the truth. God calls us to be active in our own sanctification and to be a facilitator of sanctification in the lives of others. One area of this is peace and edification in our lives and the lives of those around us. We are charged here, by Paul, to pursue the things which make for peace and for the edification of one another. We cannot be idle in these things. We must be active and aggressive in the pursuit of peace as we love one another. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Hosea 6:3

Let us know, let us pursue
That we might know the Lord.
We shall find Him ready as the daybreak,
And He will come to us
As the early and latter rain to the earth.

Personal challenge

God wants us to know Him intimately. He is always there for us, waiting for us to pursue Him. we must strive to build a relationship as we live for Him. Glory be to God!

Romans 14:12-13

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

Personal Challenge

An important part of our journey toward theosis is our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The charge for us to not judge others includes these brothers and sisters. and extends to our behaviors. What we do and how we do it around our brothers and sisters should take into consid­eration where they are on their journey and not be a stumbling block to them. This is an ever-changing part of living a godly and Christ-centered life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Hosea 2:20-22

I will betroth you to Myself in faithfulness,
And you shall know the Lord.
“It shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will listen to heaven,
And it shall listen to the earth.
The earth shall listen to the corn,
And the wine, and the oil;
And they shall listen to Jezreel.

Encouraging Words

What a blessing it is to know that our God, the creator of all is choosing to betroth Himself to us so that we might know Him. To God be the glory!

Romans 14:7-10

For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Personal Challenge

Paul makes it pretty clear here that I do not have the right, the authority, or the charge to judge others. That is Gods’ role and His alone. I am charged to love my neighbor, to honor, respect, and take care of those in need, and to love and give my cheek (both of them to my enemy). Our early church fathers taught that Jesus is the Lord of both the saint and the sinner, of the dead and the alive (both physically and spiritually). I, for one, do not want to stand before the judgment seat of my loving Lord and be judged for how much I chose to judge others. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Sirach 50:22-24

And now bless the God of all,
Who does great things in every way,
Who exalts our days from our birth
And deals with us according to His mercy.
May He give us gladness of heart,
And may there be peace in our days,
In Israel as in the days of old.
May He entrust with us His mercy,
And let Him redeem us in our days.

Encouraging Words

Ben Sirach finishes his book by reminding us who God is and how we should relate to Him. He is the God of all and we should bless Him at all times. He is continually doing great things. He is always pouring His mercy open us and exalts all the days of our lives. He is our source of gladness of heart and peace. He gives us His mercy so that we can bestow mercy on those around us. He will redeem us all the days of our lives. Glory be to Him!

Romans 14:3-4

Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

Personal Challenge

In Orthodoxy, we have many traditions that have become part of the practice of our faith. Some of these can be traced back to the beginnings of the Christian Church. Paul is teaching us here in his letter to the Romans that many of our traditions are practiced to teach us how to discipline our minds and bodies so that we are drawn closer to our Lord, and that these practiced traditions should never divide us from our brothers and sisters. One of these traditions is fasting. We do not fast because it is required for our salvation. We do not fast so that like the Pharisee we can show everyone how good a Christian we are. We fast so that we can discipline the passions of our body and ultimately the passions that affect our souls. Just as the athlete exercises to build the muscles of his body, so do we do things like fasting to exercise the muscles of our spiritual body. We should never compare our attempts of discipline to others or condemn others if they do practice these disciplines. We are to put the love for our neighbor above all else except our love for our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!