The duty of Christians to each other
Warmly welcome any believer who wants to join you, even if his faith is weak. If his opinions about right and wrong actions are different from yours, don’t blame him. For example, do not argue with him about whether or not to eat the meat of an animal sacrificed to idols. You may not see any problem in eating such meat, but others, because their faith is weaker, consider this action wrong and prefer not to eat meat at all and use vegetables for food. Therefore, those who consider eating such meat without hindrance, do not despise those who do not eat it; And those who don’t eat, don’t complain about those who eat, because God has adopted them too. They are God’s servants, not your servants; They are answerable only to God, not to you. Therefore, let God show them the rightness or wrongness of their opinion; And of course, God is able to help them to take the right path.
The duty of Christians to each other
Some people also think that Christians should keep the holy days of the Jews as special days for God’s worship, but some others consider such work to be pointless and believe that all days belong to God equally. Regarding such issues, everyone should decide for himself. Those who worship God on special days are doing a good deed because they respect God in this way. Those who do not differentiate between days are doing a good job because their work is for the pleasure of God. The same is true for eating or not eating meat sacrificed to idols. Whether those who eat or those who don’t eat, their intention is to please God and they thank God for what they do. However, we should not forget that we are not the owners of our own authority and we cannot live as we want or die as we want. Whether in life or in death, we follow God and belong to Him. Christ also died and rose again for the same purpose, so that he can be our Lord and owner both during our life and at the time of our death.
Therefore, you have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember that each of us must stand alone in front of God’s judgment seat for him to judge us; Because God has said in the Holy Book:
I swear by my life that all people will kneel before me and praise me in their own language. Yes, each of us must give an account to God.
So it is better not to blame each other. Instead, try to behave in such a way that your brother does not consider it a sin, otherwise his faith may weaken.
The duty of Christians to each other I myself, because of the authority given to me by God Jesus, am sure that there is nothing wrong with eating meat sacrificed to idols. But if someone thinks this is wrong and sinful, he should not eat such meat, because then he has committed a sin. Also, if you see that what you eat offends your brother’s conscience, you should stop doing it, otherwise you are not acting on the basis of love. Don’t let your eating destroy the faith of the person for whom Christ sacrificed his life. So don’t do something that they will criticize you for, even if it seems right to you. Because the kingdom of God, which is the goal of our Christian lives, is not to eat and drink, but to benefit from goodness, peace and joy that the Holy Spirit gives. If you follow these principles in serving Christ, apart from pleasing God, you will not offend anyone. So your goal is to live in peace with other believers to strengthen their faith. Do not spoil the work of God for a piece of meat. I repeat again, there is nothing wrong with meat, but if eating it causes one to slip and weaken his faith, naturally this act is considered a sin. The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat or drinking wine or any other thing that causes offense and offense to others. If you believe that there is nothing wrong with your work, even in the eyes of God, do it with yourself; But avoid doing it in the presence of those who suffer from it. Happy is the one who does not condemn and blame himself when doing what he thinks is right. But a person whose conscience is upset about what he is doing, should not do that work in any way, because in this case he has committed a sin, because his conscience considers that work to be a sin. So if you intend to do something that you think is a sin, don’t do it, because what is done with a guilty conscience is a sin. (Duties of Christians)
