Verse 1: If a brother or sister in the Lord is weak, don't criticize them. Encourage & pray for them that they will be encouraged in the faith. The Church is to build up, not to tear down.
A brother can be condemned about something & another brother is not condemned about the same thing. We are not sent to be judges over anyone. We are all children of God and God is the judge of us all. Every knee will bow & every tongue will confess to God & we will have to give an account to God for all the things that we have said & done.
Philippians 2:12 states that we must work out our own salvation with fear & trembling. Also in Hebrews 10:31 the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God. So to me it behooves us to pray for our family and brothers & sisters in the Lord. We should focus on things that are pleasing in God's sight, not man's. We must pray that we are not a stumbling block to our brothers in word or deed.
Verse 17 tells us the kingdom of God is not meat nor drink but righteousness, peace & joy in the Holy Ghost. If we have a contrite spirit and serve Christ we are acceptable to God & approved of man.
Verse 18: Follow after these things that we may edify each other & not tear down what God has put in place. After all we are the body of Christ and you don't tear apart what God has put together
Kirk Fults
