Unlimited: Don’t Condemn Yourself
Oct 27, 2023 403
Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves (Romans 14:22b).
The apostle Paul is telling us that just because we have liberty to do certain things that others don’t think they have (like in this case, eating certain foods), we shouldn’t actually do these things in certain circumstances. We actually condemn ourselves when we flaunt this liberty to the detriment of others.
In prefacing his statement with the words, “Blessed is the one who…” Paul here reminds us of the beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew 5. In fact, Paul uses the same word in Greek for blessed, which is a word that means to be “blissfully happy.”
In Romans 14:22, the one who is blissfully happy is the person who knows that they are free to live in a certain way, yet voluntarily limits him/herself for the sake of others.
We actually condemn ourselves when we flaunt our liberty to the detriment of others.
This is because Jesus lived out precisely what Romans 14:22 says. Jesus “emptied himself” (Phil. 2:7) for our sakes. Though he was God, with every divine prerogative at his disposal, yet Jesus said,
By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me (John 5:30);
and
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me (John 6:38.)
Spiritual Application
What is one aspect of your life in which you voluntarily limit yourself for the sake of others? Or is this something that you never think about?
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