Accept One Another 1

Romans 14:10-13

Each of us who believe in Jesus and work to be like him, those who call themselves Christians, must work to live in peace with one another. We must learn to interact with each other as Christian brothers and sisters under the guidance of our Lord and Father. If we are to be true Christians under Jesus then we must learn what it means to be together in the love of Christ. And so, we begin looking at how to live as a Christian family.

The Bible has much to say and much guidance in how to live and love as Christians. So we begin this series on “One Another,” looking at how to accept one another, have fellowship with one another, teach one another, forgive one another and love one another.

We begin in Romans, that letter from Paul to a struggling church confronted with adversity. Like these early Christians we may also feel that our life and faith are being challenged. In this passage Paul gives advice on how to begin to accept one another, how to start that foundation of faith.

What problem is being addressed? What does Paul remind us about our relationship with God? What should we do?

If we intend to live as Christians we must first be humble. We must learn to get along with others who are of the same faith before we can even begin to get along with others who may not be aware of God.

While our efforts and attitudes may be those that work to remove sin from our own lives and sin from the world, we cannot approach our faith with arrogance and conceit. Which one of us is worthy to stand before God? Not one. We are all sinners who have missed the mark of perfection.

So how can it be that we judge one another? How can we look at others and claim they are not good enough to be in our company? Such attitudes do not work to remove sin or improve the spirituality of ourselves or any other. Instead they become obstacles, roadblocks, things that deter rather than invite.

We are called to have an attitude of openness and love. We may hate the sin, but we must love the sinner because we are all sinners. We must develop an attitude of humility and acceptance, holding back on our judgments and working to remove our own inflated sense of self-worth.

In Matthew 20:26-27 Jesus explains, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.” If we will serve the Lord and be true Christians we will learn to accept one another and serve one another.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Is there anyone you look down on? What can you do to remove that attitude?