Love flows as we trust our Master, Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. What a great question Paul asked his readers! I hope you can see the underlying assumption by Paul that anyone who believes in Jesus is His servant. Every believer who has received the abundant mercies of God knows Jesus is his master and he or she is His servant. In Romans 6:18 Paul wrote, “And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” And in Romans 12:10-11 he wrote, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Is that your understanding of your and your brother’s and sister’s relationship with Jesus? You are Jesus’ servants. He is your master, and therefore He does with you what He wishes. We are encouraged by this verse to never harbor attitudes of pride, superiority, or judgment in our hearts toward another believer when it comes to matters of opinion on debatable issues. What makes an issue debatable? If there is clarity in God’s Word on a matter, then God has made the judgment about it, then there is no debate. Our master has told us what is righteous and loving. We trust Him. However when there is no clarity from God’s Word, then the loving thing to do is leave it to God to deal with it through the faith He gives each individual. In other words, we trust Him to govern His servants in wisdom. The lesson to learn: the love of Jesus can only flow when we trust Him with all things. We love our master. We trust Him. We know He is able to make all of His servants stand or walk by faith on any issue. On debatable issues, what our master is most concerned with is not where one stands on the issue, but that one stands where he stands by the faith He has received from His master. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com