Receive one another in love.

Romans 14:1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. As we begin Rom. 14, I want to remind you of where Paul has come from. In Rom. 12:1-2 He wrote, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Recognizing that this verse is a continuation of how being recipients of the mercies of God should impact our lives keeps us in the flow of the mind of the Holy Spirit. First, our believing in Jesus is one of many mercies. God gives to each one a measure of faith and that drives the use of the grace gifts He gives us to minister to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to be devoted to loving one another without hypocrisy. Second, Paul addressed how, in light of God’s mercies, we are to love our enemies, and third, our faith in God should impact our relationships with the authorities He places over us. At the end of chapter 13, Paul summarized what he said, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love” them. Now, Paul returned to a common problem among believers, having to do with the differing measures of faith that God gives related to food, drink, and certain days. Paul was urging his readers to consider their responses to one another as an aspect of their worship with their bodies which he entreated them to do in 12:1. Now we are ready to be encouraged from 14:1. Since “God has allotted to each a measure of faith” we ought to “accept the one who is weak in faith.” The word translated accept is rooted in the word most translated receive. John 3:27 is a good example. “John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.’” So perhaps we get the most encouragement out of this verse when we take it to mean that we are to realize God has given to us members of our body whose faith is weaker than ours on various issues. He didn’t give them to us so we could practice being their judges. We are to love and trust God, who in His wisdom gives faith to each of us according to how He wants to glorify Himself in His body. So today, I encourage us to remember that God is the Great Giver and we are merely unworthy, undeserving recipients of His mercies. Those mercies were given to us when we had no faith at all! We were enemies, in fact. In light of those mercies of God, we should view our brothers and sisters as gifts to us from God. We are to receive those people in the condition God has given them to us, and as we will learn in the next few days, leave their opinions on disputable matters in God’s hands. Today, if God puts a weaker brother or sister in our paths, we are to receive them as someone Jesus intends to love through us. They belong to Him, and therefore belong to us so we can bring glory to God as we worship Him by offering ourselves as living, holy sacrifices of love. What a good encouragement this is for us! Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com