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New Testament Reading - Do Not Judge Another

¹Give a warm welcome to any brother who wants to join you, even though his faith is weak. Don’t criticize him for having different ideas from yours about what is right and wrong.^{a 2}For instance, don’t argue with him about whether or not to eat meat that has been offered to idols. You may believe there is no harm in this, but the faith of others is weaker; they think it is wrong and will go without any meat at all and eat vegetables rather than eat that kind of meat. ³Those who think it is all right to eat such meat must not look down on those who won’t. And if you are one of those who won’t, don’t find fault with those who do. For God has accepted them to be his children. ⁴ They are God’s servants, not yours. They are responsible to him, not to you. Let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. And God is able to make them do as they should.

⁵Some think that Christians should observe the Jewish holidays as special days to worship God, but others say it is wrong and foolish to go to all that trouble, for every day alike belongs to God. On questions of this kind everyone must decide for himself. ⁶If you have special days for worshiping the Lord, you are trying to honor him; you are doing a good thing. So is the person who eats meat that has been offered to idols; he is thankful to the Lord for it; he is doing right. And the person who won’t touch such meat, he, too, is anxious to please the Lord, and is thankful. ⁷We are not our own bosses to live or die as we ourselves might choose. ⁸Living or dying we follow the Lord. Either way we are his. ⁹Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he can be our Lord both while we live and when we die.

¹⁰You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, “As I live,” says the Lord, “every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess to God.” ¹²Yes, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

1. Literally, “Receive him that is weak in faith, not for decisions of scruples.” Perhaps the meaning is “Receive those whose consciences hurt them when they do things others have no doubts about.” Accepting them might cause discord in the church, but Paul says to welcome them anyway.