“I’ve got a right to do what I want to do!” How many have ever said that? How many Christians have ever said that? But, give this some thought. Even if something is not necessarily a sin, does that mean I’ve got a “right” to do it? One question I must always ask myself is: “What impact will this decision have on others, especially upon my fellow Christians?”
In the first-century church, something as simple as whether to eat certain meats was causing a rift in the church. Christians were certainly at “liberty” (1 Cor. 8:9) to eat any meat provided by God (1 Tim. 4:3-5)—it was their “right.” But they needed to be aware of how their actions looked to others. Paul said, “Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died…nor do anything by which your brother stumbles” (Rom. 14:15, 21).
Fellow Christian, the choices we make are seen by and affect each other. Let us “resolve…not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (Rom. 14:13).