Motives Matter

Motives Matter When Paul wrote this passage, certain members of the Roman church had started making rules about food, Sabbath days, and fasting. Because of the freedom Jesus brought, these rules shouldn’t have been a requirement for the Christian life, but certain church members had started to treat them like they were. They looked down on those who didn’t share their practices, and this inflated their pride. Paul urged the church to abstain from judging each other about such trivial things because what we do is less important than why we do it. Our motive is crucial. Fasting, restricting certain foods, and practicing the Sabbath are beautiful ways to draw near to Jesus, but these actions don’t save us. If we look to activities and rules for our salvation and hold others to standards not laid out in Scripture, we are susceptible to pride and disunity, just like the people Paul wrote to in today’s passage. God alone is the standard of justice, goodness, and righteousness. When you choose to judge others, you allow your pride to take God’s place as the one true Judge. Pride is the enemy of unity! Fight against it by seeking unity with other believers on your campus.