Romans 15:1-13
15 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. 8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.”
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you Gentiles.”
11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.”
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne[f] will come,
and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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We are to accept each other just as Christ has accepted us. I go back to Romans 5 to remind myself of how he accepted me. Christ accepted me–loved me–when I was still a sinner and his enemy. He even adopted me into his family–Ephesians 1. There is no judgment once I’m in his family,
In human families, there are consequences to my behaviors and there is also discipline that may be applied. So also in God’s family there are consequences and disciplines, but there is no judgement! And the purpose of it all is to bring glory to God.
How? In the early churches, the believers were known by all as they saw how they loved each other. If we really followed the principles in this passage, we might actually be known once again for our love for each other. And that would certainly bring glory to God. Whatever happened to our being “one voice?”