Fred's Devo # 51: "Every Believer Must Give a Personal Account to God!"

6 "Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

10 So why do you condemn another believer[a]? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say,

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.

12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. Romans 14:6-13

Fred's Reflections: "Every believer must give an account to God". Usually, when I think of this scripture, I think of it in connection win God judging the believer for sin. Actually, the context of this scripture is the liberty of the individual Christian to decide before God how he or she will live their lives in the grey areas. In other words, Christ will be my ultimate judge for how I choose to live my life in the gray areas (as well as the clear cut/ black and white areas). The passage tells us that the motivation of the believer is to honor the Lord. If we are focusing on honoring the Lord and not our weak brother and sisters, that will keep us from selfishness and insensitivity as we exercise our liberty in Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I know that you will ultimately judge me when it comes to the choices I make about how I live my day to day life in the gray areas. Lord, are there areas in my life where I am not honoring you with my choices? ...Yes Lord, I confess to you that I can be a better steward of all of the things you have given me. I ask for your help as I make changes in the area of personal stewardship and management.
In Jesus Name! Amen