Please others for the glory of God

Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. In Romans 14:1 Paul wrote, “Now accept the one who is weak in faith.” As you read chapter 14, it is clear who Paul considered weak. It was the one whose faith did not permit him to eat meat. He wasn’t saying they were inferior because they were weak in faith in regards to eating meat. As he came to this point in his encouragement to the Roman congregation, he laid down an important one another principle about love. For the strong in faith, the one who was free to eat meat without condemning himself, not eating meat was not a sin. Therefore, the ones with the stronger faith were to carry or bear the weaknesses of their brothers and sisters who were weak in faith in that situation, and please them by not eating meat in their presence. There are going to be times when we are with someone whose conscience doesn’t permit them to do one thing or another. In those cases, since we are living to love with Jesus, since we are firm in our faith as to what we are to do, namely love for their highest good, we should do what pleases them. Paul’s greatest ambition was to please the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9), and he made it clear to the Romans what pleased the Lord in cases where there was a difference of opinion on matters of conscience. It certainly pleases your brother for you not to put pressure on him to do something he isn’t free to do before the Lord. This applies to so many relationships and circumstances. This obviously applies to eating and drinking as mentioned in Rom. 14. In the sexual area of marriage, one should never manipulate or put pressure on a spouse to do something he or she doubts is pleasing to the Lord. This may also apply to vocabulary, entertainment, or music choices. Let’s take encouragement today from this verse to not please ourselves when we have the opportunity and freedom to please someone else for the glory of God.