Rom 14:20 Susan's suggestion

46-ROM.usfm

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 \v 1 Every believer must obey the government officials. Remember that God is the only one who gives officials their authority. Furthermore, those officials that exist are ones who have been appointed by God.
 \v 2 So whoever resists the officials is resisting what God has established. Furthermore, those who resist officials will cause the officials to punish them.
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 \v 3 I say this, because rulers do not cause people who do good deeds to be afraid. Instead, they cause people who do evil to be afraid. So if any of you do good, they will praise you instead of punishing you!
 \v 4 All officials exist in order to serve God, in order that they may help each of you. If any of you does what is evil, of course you should be afraid of them. The officials exist to serve God by punishing those who do evil.
 \v 5 So, it is necessary for you to obey the officials, not only because they will punish you if you disobey them, but also because you know within yourselves that you should be subject to them!
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 \v 6 It is for this reason that you also pay taxes, because the officials are ones who serve God as they continually do their work.
 \v 7 Give to all the officials what you are supposed to give to them! Pay taxes to those who require that you pay taxes. Pay duties on goods to those who require that you pay those duties. Respect those whom you ought to respect. Honor those whom you ought to honor.
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 \v 8 Pay all of your debts when you are supposed to pay them. The only thing that is like a debt that you should never stop paying is to love one another. Whoever loves others has fulfilled all that God requires in his law.
 \v 9 There are many things that God has commanded in his law, such as do not commit adultery, do not murder anyone, do not steal, and do not desire anything that belongs to someone else. But we can sum up the meaning of all the law in this sentence: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
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 \v 10 If you love everyone around you, you will harm no one. So whoever loves others fulfills all that God's law requires.
 
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 \v 11 Do what I have just told you, especially since you know how important is the time in which we are now living. You know that it is time for you to be fully alert and active, like people who have awakened from sleeping, because the time when Christ will finally deliver us from this world's sin and sorrow is near. That time is closer now than when we first believed in Christ.
 \v 12 Our time to live in this world is almost ended, like a night that is nearly ended. The time when Christ will return is near. So we must stop doing the wicked deeds that people like to do at night, and we must be doing the things that will help us resist evil, as soldiers who put on their armor in the daytime get ready to resist their enemies.
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 \v 13 We must behave properly, as though the time when Christ will return were already here. We must not get drunk and do evil things with others. We must not commit any kind of sexual immorality or wild sensual behavior. We must not quarrel. We must not be jealous of other people.
 \v 14 On the contrary, we should be like the Lord Jesus Christ so that others will see what he is like. You should stop wanting to do the things that your old evil nature wants to do.
 
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 \v 1 Accept those who are not sure whether God will permit them to do certain things some people think are wrong. But when you accept them, do not argue with them about what they think. These questions are only personal opinions.
 \v 2 Some people believe that they may eat all kinds of food. Others believe that God does not want them to eat certain things, so they believe that they may eat only vegetables.
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 \v 12 So we will each have to tell God what we have done and let him decide whether or not he approves of it.
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 \v 13 Since it is God who will judge everyone, we must stop saying that God should punish some of our fellow believers! Instead, you must be determined to never cause another brother or sister to sin or to stop trusting Christ.
 
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 \v 14 Because I am joined to the Lord Jesus, I am absolutely certain that there is nothing that by itself is wrong to eat. But if people think it is wrong to eat something, then for them it is wrong to eat it. So you should not encourage them to eat it.
 \v 15 If you eat food that a fellow believer thinks is wrong to eat, you might cause him to stop obeying God. You would no longer be loving him. Do not cause any fellow believer to stop trusting in Christ. After all, Christ died for him, too!
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 \v 16 Similarly, do not do something that fellow believers would call bad, even if you think it is good.
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 \v 17 When God rules how we live, we do not worry about what we eat and drink. Instead, we think about how what is the right way to obey him, have peace with each other, and rejoice because of the Holy Spirit.
 
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 \v 18 Those who serve Christ by acting in such ways please God, and others will also respect them.
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 \v 19 So we should always eagerly try to live in a way that will cause peace among fellow Christians, and we should try to do what will help each other to trust and obey Christ.
 
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-\v 20 Do not destroy how God has helped any believer just because you want to eat a certain kind of food. It is true that God allows us to eat every kind of food. But if you eat something that another believer thinks is wrong, then you are encouraging him to do what he thinks is wrong.
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+\v 20 Do not destroy what God has done to help any believer just because you want to eat a certain kind of food. It is true that God allows us to eat every kind of food. But if you eat something that another believer thinks is wrong, then you are encouraging him to do what he thinks is wrong.
 \v 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor to do anything else at any time if it will cause one of your fellow believers to stop trusting in God.
 
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 \v 22 Let God tell you what things are right for you to do, but do not try to force others to accept what you believe. And you will please God if you have no doubts about your convictions about what is right and wrong to do.
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 \v 23 But some believers fear that God will not be pleased if they eat certain kinds of food. And indeed, he will say that they have done wrong, if they do not do what they believe to be right. If we do anything without being certain that God approves of it, we are sinning.
 
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 \v 1 Those of us believers who are sure that God allows us to do many more things than other believers think he allows them to do—we should be patient with them and allow them to inconvenience us. This is more important than our pleasing ourselves.
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 \v 2 Each of us should do the things that please our fellow believers, and things that will help them, things that will encourage them to trust in Christ.
 
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 \v 5 I pray that God give you patience and encouragement so that you all live in peace with each other, doing as Christ Jesus did.
 \v 6 If you do this, you all will be praising God together, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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 \v 7 So I say to all of you believers at Rome, accept each other. If you do that, people will praise God as they see you behave like Christ. Accept each other just like Christ accepted you!