Watch What You Eat and Love Your Enemies

Watch What You Eat

I remember a time when a group of us were having dinner. One of the people at the table did not eat pork. This was fine and nobody objected. However, they would take every opportunity to condemn others at the table for their food choices. Needless to say their condemnation did not lead to any conversions to their way of life that day. Let us flip this scenario around. Let’s say I want to share the gospel with my neighbor, who is forbidden to eat pork because of his religion. What kind of hearing do you think I would receive if I were to invite him over for a nice dinner of baked ham? None. The dinner itself, not to mention my own insensitivity, would be so offensive that he would turn me off before I ever got started. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up (Romans 15:1-2).”A person with a misunderstanding of the grace of God may say, “But the Bible says that all foods are allowed now. You shouldn’t compromise on your freedom. We are no longer under the Old Testament dietary laws.” That is irrelevant. This issue is not law – what I can or cannot eat. The issue is my use of freedom: whether my use of freedom is governed by love or whether in my immaturity I care more about my own wants than about leading someone to Christ.  

If we really care about people, and the love of Christ is determining our decisions, we will make the same decision as Paul, who said, “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited (2 Corinthians 6:3).” Am I interested in serving others in love, or in serving myself? That is the issue. The actions of the individual at dinner with me not only showed a lack of love and understanding for others, but the entire focus was on food! I don’t even know if her motivation was religious in nature or not. How could I when what was on my plate was more important than what was in my heart? Jesus Christ has set us free to love others with the love He has given to us. The reason He did this was so that we could testify to others about Him in hopes that they might come to faith in Him. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).” The kingdom of God is not about food, it is about Jesus Christ. 

Love Your Enemies

Have you ever hated someone so bad that you contemplated killing them?  Take the story of a young Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).” David had come to understand the forgiveness of God he had in Christ. Yet, like all of us, it is easy to talk about the forgiveness of God and “loving your enemies, “until you actually have an enemy! All David wanted was a way out of the room and not have to see this man face to face.  However, while David struggled with the memory of what this man had done to him, the Lord reasoned with David and he remembered that he wasn’t perfect in all his past dealings either. 

David had only been a Christian for a couple of years when he was attending a lecture where the presenter talked extensively on forgiveness. David was agreeing with everything being said when, in the crowd, he spotted a man who had hurt him both personally and professionally. In fact, David said, “The only thing that kept me from hiring a hit man to kill him was the fear of getting caught!” Seeing this man brought back all those hateful feelings, but David was now a new man. “

David realized the “Lord had to do some serious forgiving in my life to make me acceptable to Him.” From God’s perspective there wasn’t much difference between David and this other man. David decided to trust God. During a break in the session, with all the emotions from past hurts still running through his head, the love of God was motivating him. David walked over to the man, who expected David to punch him, extended his hand and said, “I hope you’re listening to these messages… Jesus Christ has changed my life, and He can change yours too.” Rendered speechless for a moment, the man shook David’s hand and said, “If I didn’t have a reason to listen before, I sure do now!” This is a pattern taught by Jesus Christ and repeated throughout the New Covenant. Jesus told His disciples to “Love one another.” How? “As I have loved you” (John 13:34). “Accept one another,” Paul wrote in Romans 15:7. How? “Just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” It is human nature to treat others in the manner in which they believe God is treating them. When you are experiencing love, acceptance and forgiveness from God, you will give away that same love, acceptance and forgiveness to others. Therefore, if you believe God is rejecting you for your failures, then you will reject others who have failed. As you grow in the grace of God, you will become more gracious towards others and begin not to hold their sins against them in the same way God no longer holds your sins against you.