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Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters (Romans 14:1).  …let us stop passing judgment on one another (Romans 14:13a). If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love (Romans 14:15a).

The center, circumference, essence, magnetism of our faith is the love of God for us. We hear this, try to describe it, sing about it, but none of those efforts produce it, capture it, or define it. It is the strongest, surest, most universal of realities and yet the most ethereal and uncontainable. 

God’s precious and powerful love makes me think of the Gold Rush. That was a drop-everything-and-take-off-for-parts-unknown-seeking-something-that-will-make-me-rich experience.

Jesus saw us as the gold and did just that. We glimpse Him as the gold and do the same. Then, once we have a glimmer of what it’s like to be loved by God, everything about us begins to change. 

This is notably true of our relationships.

When we awake to the fact we are loved by God, the cavernous void in our hearts—the void that drove us to get our own way in order to feel good about ourselves—disappears. No void, no void to fill.

In Romans 14 Paul is addressing that universal drive to have our own way. It has come up in the early church due to “disputable matters” regarding food and sacred days. (If their disputable matters don’t speak to us, we can find plenty of our own to substitute.)

If I retain a void within, I am going to dig in when a disputable matter comes up. After all, my self-worth depends on me being right. Then if I am right, I judge you as obviously wrong. Sound familiar?

Love has the power to override judging. It is power that does not barge in to get one’s own way. It is power that stands still and accepts the other. (Think “Don’t just do something, stand there.”)

Paul sided with God in advocating acceptance rather than judgment. He applied this to those whose sensibilities were finely tuned as well as to those who felt free from limitations. Neither were to act superior to the other. Both were accountable to act on the faith they themselves had.

We welcome God and His love with all degrees of inclination—from slight to deep. Start wherever you are and welcome God’s love. 

I have lived long enough to have had—then switched out—plenty of convictions regarding faith. (This is one reason I need a Big Tent church—because I am my own big tent!) Can you identify with that or does that seem dangerous to you? Take some time with God to consider your response.

Think about someone you know whose views seem either too strict or too lax to you. When you’re ready, ask God for the power of love to accept that person. This is one way we disagree deeply and love deeper still.