I don’t know who needs to hear this and I honestly never thought this needed to be said but personal convictions of what it looks like to live out a Christ-like life may look different in the details for everyone.
It depends on a persons upbringing and personal experiences.
It depends on their personal walk and relationship with God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
It depends on how deeply a person has dived into the meaning of scripture.
We read in multiple places in the Bible that to judge other believers is to put yourself in the place of God (Romans 2:1, Luke 6:37, James 4:11), and that ain’t it.
I’m NOT saying there is no place for brotherly/sisterly correction and church discipline around things that are explicitly commanded by God—that’s a given.
I’m talking about the in-between’s, was true in the OT but irrelevant in the NT, descriptive vs. prescriptive passages, the blurred lines, the grey areas.
I’m saying read Romans 14 again and stop the judgement. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
If you are “feeling the burn” of Christian judgement around your family’s decisions of how to abstain from or celebrate certain public observances for example (*cough Halloween, Christmas, Easter cough*), just know that it’s between you and God and God alone. Christians who are judging you one way or the other ain’t it and could use some more time in scripture themselves.
Let’s respect our fellow Christian’s conviction on their own hearts, and expect that courtesy to go both ways.
For further thoughts, read this blog post.
