An account of himself to God

“So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother’s way.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

“Do you have a conviction? Keep it to yourself before God. The man who does not condemn himself by what he approves is blessed. But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a conviction, and everything that is not from a conviction is sin.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

It is a nice thing to know that we will not stand or fall braised on another’s acts, or lack of action. We are accountable to God only for our actions! God does not just see our actions but the motivations behind them. Paul is using eating meat here in Romans 14 as an example of things that we might do that would cause a brother to stumble. He declares that eating meat is ok but then he says it is a noble thing not to eat meat. Everyone must be driven by what God has convicted them to do and also by what might cause a brother in Christ to stumble. Paul took a hard stance on this in 1 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭13‬ 

“Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother to fall.”

‭‭‭HCSB‬‬

Peter ran into a similar situation with Paul and got rebuked because of fear in Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭14.

“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews? ”

‭‭‬‭HCSB‬‬

What actions are you convinced of because God has told you? To you, if you disobey is a sin, but for me, it is not a sin if God has never convicted me of it. But I too should not do them if I know it will cause you to stumble. The one who has been delivered can easily fall if they see another brother committing the same act. 

Watch your steps for the church is looking for people who will be an example. Watch your steps for the world is watching for people who say they are Christians to be like Christ. What your steps for God is looking for people who will walk blamelessly for Him!