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LIVING ABOVE REPROACH
Romans 14:14-23
Reproach means: Blame, discredit, disgrace
Have you ever felt at some point and time in your
life that you were the blame for some other Christian’s falling
away? Or, maybe by the way you acted, someone did not come to know
Jesus at all…
I want to tell you that other people are watching
you all the time to see how you act…especially if you label yourself
as a Christian.
How you act and what you say around your friends,
family, spouse and church family declare whether you are living
above reproach or not. Do you have the high moral standard of
living that Jesus calls for or are you still living the world’s
standard which is a discredit to a Christian’s life style?
Paul, in this passage today, shows us four
principles of “Living Above Reproach”.
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Don’t destroy your brother or sister in Christ by what you do.
Verses 14-15….I know and am convinced in the
Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks
anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of
food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to
love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
Paul says, “Do not destroy with your food, him
for whom Christ died.”
Since Christ was willing to die for that weak
brother, certainly we ought to be willing to refrain from doing
something that would hurt him in his Christian walk.
**Thinking before we speak or act, would help us
a lot in this matter**
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Don’t let anything you do be spoken of as evil…. vs. 16
In other words, liberty does not license. The
believer is to use his or her liberty, not abuse it. It is not
enough for the Christian to do what he or she feels is right, we
must guard against doing anything that could cause our “good” to be
evil spoken of. The Christian should be concerned about the
impression he makes on other as well as the relations of his own
conscience to God.
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Don’t do anything that would make your brother or sister stumble.
Vs. 21
What Paul is saying is that we are not to tear
down the work of God in the heart of some believers for the sake of
some physical gratification. (The eating of meat here, that has
been sacrificed). This saying is still active: “One man’s porridge
is another man’s poison.”
Example: Esau exchanged his birthright for a
bowl of soup.
Don’t sell your birthright just to satisfy your
appetite.
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The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.
Vs.22
You will stay healthier and happier if your own
conviction before God is clean and pure.
We condemn ourselves by what we approve of in our
life. If what ever we approve of is not from faith, it is sin. Now
comes the call for repentance. Now comes the call for repentance.
Before we do something we must ask ourselves this
question: “Will it be right for me to do it?”
If these four principles are not in your life
today, will you say as the Prodigal son said….”I will arise and go
to my father”…”Father God”…
One final question, ”Why should we live above
reproach?”
So then each one of us shall give account of
himself to God.
Romans 14:12
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