“We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:7-9). So writes Paul to the church in Rome. His intent is to remind readers that arguing over what days on which to worship or what foods to avoid creates unnecessary division within the community. Judgment belongs to God not to us, Paul says. We, in turn, belong to God in both our living and our dying. Human opinions and perspectives are not the basis for our faith.
There are a number of implications to these words, but I want to point to just one. If, whether we live or die, we are bound up in God, then we must learn to accept others who also belong to God whether or not they act like us, or talk like us or, vote like us, or own a car like purs. We should be far too busy experiencing God’s grace to get tied up in details and lose our way. In short, when it comes to God and God’s relationship with humanity it really is a matter of life AND death, which is to say that living or dying we belong to God.
Prayer: Lord forgive us when we allow the most insignificant of issues to stand between us and others. Instead give us eyes with which to see your love poured out for the whole world.
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