Judgment Belongs to God Alone

Text: Romans 14:7-12

Reflection and Question: When Paul speaks to the church in Rome, he is addressing real tensions between the Christians rooted in the Jewish tradition and those rooted just as deeply in the other religions common to that time. Paul comments, “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God… So, then, each of us will be accountable to God.” For Paul, regardless of anything else, all Christians live and die by the Lord alone. When you become distressed by the practice of another Christian, can you see that other person as Paul does, living with Christ and accountable to God alone?

Prayer: Jesus Christ, You are Lord of the living and of the dead. Shape our understanding through these words of Paul. Help us to shed our judgment by accepting that all of us will meet our accounting with You at God’s right hand. Amen.

This meditation is based on the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).