“And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticised for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.”
Romans 14:15-19 NLT
Paul now moves on beyond writing about right and wrong foods to what really matters. He wrote that we should live a life of “goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. Rather than look around us at what other Christians are doing, we should instead get our own lives in order. And I’m sure if every believer focused on that, there would not be an opportunity to criticise others. We’d be too busy sorting ourselves out. We should always remember that we are not responsible for another believers’ walk with God. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12b-13, “ … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose”. Our journey through life hand in hand with the Holy Spirit is an intensely personal thing.
Paul also wrote the following to the Ephesian church, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). There is a lifetime of activity here. The “old man” within us died with Christ – Colossians 2:20, “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world..?” We are now a new creation “created to be like God”. So with His help that is what we do, casting aside all the things that we used to do and that hold us back.
Paul wrote the following to the Philippine church, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). That’s living the life. By doing so we can guarantee ourselves a life of “goodness and peace and joy“. And the Holy Spirit can live within us, enjoying the experience too. Paul went on to point out that living life in this way will please God. And other people around us will notice someone who is different and someone they will approve of.
It may be a big ask. We’re only human, some will say. Excuses such as “you don’t know what I’m going through”, or “my mental health isn’t good at the moment” will emerge. Did Paul write something that is impossible to keep? Was he setting the bar too high? The key is in the words, “in the Holy Spirit”. In our own strength, we don’t have a hope of always pleasing God. But with the Holy Spirit within us we have a chance. Isaiah 40:31, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint”. That’s really living the life!
Dear Father God. We really want to live a life that is pleasing to You. No “if’s” or “but’s”. Just a life lived in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 