Walk in Love

“For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.” -Romans 14:15

The strength of Paul’s admonition—“do not destroy the one for whom Christ died”—indicates that he is speaking of matters here more profound than simply the displeasure or disapproval of the weaker brother. The Greek word translated grieved is λυπέω (lypeo) and means to cause severe mental or emotional distress. Recall, the issue under consideration is the Mosaic Law regarding diets and days. 

Paul is writing to the church during a period of transition—after the resurrection of Christ but before the destruction of the Temple which effectively ended Judaism—in which not all believers were convinced that the new humanity in Christ meant the end of the ceremonial precepts of the Mosaic Law. (This is what the entire book of Hebrews is about, convincing Jewish Christians to not return to their Jewish observations because they were coming to an end. They were merely a shadow of the reality that came, Jesus. Cf. Hebrews 10:1)

The principle can be lifted from this situation and be applied in modern circumstances where new believers may come to Christ with some religiously-influenced background (i.e., Paganism, occult, false religions) that has malformed their conscience to be troubled by someone’s Christian liberty. Where we have opportunity to walk in love, let us be charitable and not grieve our brother or sister in Christ. God forbid we are ever responsible for destroying one for whom Christ died.