7. We do not live or die for ourselves.
8. If we live, we are living for the Lord, and if we die, we are dying for the Lord. So living or dying, we belong to the Lord.
9. The reason Christ died and rose from the dead to live again was so he would be Lord over both the dead and the living.
10. So why do you judge your brothers or sisters in Christ? And why do you think you are better than they are? We will all stand before God to be judged,
11. because it is written in the Scriptures:“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘Everyone will bow before me;everyone will say that I am God.’ ”
12. So each of us will have to answer to God.
13. For that reason we should stop judging each other. We must make up our minds not to do anything that will make another Christian sin.
14. I am in the Lord Jesus, and I know that there is no food that is wrong to eat. But if a person believes something is wrong, that thing is wrong for him.
15. If you hurt your brother’s or sister’s faith because of something you eat, you are not really following the way of love. Do not destroy someone’s faith by eating food he thinks is wrong, because Christ died for him.
16. Do not allow what you think is good to become what others say is evil.
17. In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. The important things are living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18. Anyone who serves Christ by living this way is pleasing God and will be accepted by other people.