Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Iron 14
14
FOOD, DRINK, AND SACRED DAYS
1Welcome into our sacred gatherings those who are weak in their understanding of our spiritual ways. Do not try to prove them wrong about the things they have decided for themselves.
2One person trusts that all foods are good to eat, while another whose understanding is weak might only eat herbs and plants. 3The one who eats all foods must not look down on the one who eats only herbs and plants. In the same way, the one who eats only herbs and plants should not decide the other is wrong, for the Great Spirit has accepted both of them.
4What gives anyone the right to judge the servant of another? It is before the one they serve that they will stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Great Spirit has the power to make them stand.
5One person may decide that one day is more sacred than another, while another may decide that all days are the same. Each of you should be sure in your own mind that you have made the right decision. 6The one who keeps a day as sacred does so to honor the Great Spirit. It is the same for the one who eats all foods and for the one who does not. For they are both doing so to honor and give thanks to the Great Spirit.
LIFE, DEATH, AND HONORING THE GREAT SPIRIT
7For we who follow Creator Sets Free (Jesus) do not live or die to bring honor to ourselves. 8If we live, it is to honor the Great Chief with our lives. If we die, it is to bring honor to him with our deaths. So in life or in death we belong to him. 9The reason the Chosen One chose to die and rise to life again was to be Chief of both the dead and the living.
10Since this is true, why then do you look down on and decide the guilt of a sacred family member? For the time will come when we all will stand before the Great Spirit, and he will be the one to decide who has done right and who has done wrong.
11For it is written in the Sacred Teachings, “As surely as I live,” says the Great Spirit, “Every knee will bow down to honor me, and every tongue will speak truth to Creator.”#14:11 Isaiah 45:23
12So then, each of us must give an answer to the Great Spirit for how we have walked on this earth. 13Since this is true, we should no longer point the finger at each other. Instead, we should decide to never do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble and fall as they walk this good road.
THE GOOD ROAD IS A ROAD OF LOVE
14Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One has shown me that no food by nature is ceremonially impure, but if someone considers it to be impure, for that person it is impure. 15If you cause pain and sorrow by looking down on how a sacred family member sees food, then you are no longer walking the road of love. Do not let your strong feelings about food become the ruin of one for whom the Chosen One died.
16Give no one a reason to speak evil of what you see as good. 17For Creator’s good road is not about eating or drinking. Instead, it is about doing what is right in Creator’s eyes, about walking his path of peace, and finding the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 18For all who serve the Chosen One in this manner find goodwill in the eyes of the Great Spirit and will be honored by their fellow human beings.
WALKING IN THE WAY OF PEACE
19So then, let us walk the path of peace in a manner that lifts up and strengthens the heart of each person. We must not tear down the good things Creator has done because of how we see food. 20While it is true that all foods are ceremonially pure, it is not good to force the way you eat on others and make them stumble. 21It would be better not to eat, drink wine, or do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble on the path.
22So in these situations keep what you believe about these things between you and the Great Spirit. The ones who are doing what they know to be right have no reason to feel any guilt, for Creator’s blessing rests on them. 23But the ones who are not sure they are doing right will feel their guilt, for whatever does not come from trusting in Creator comes from our broken ways.
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Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Iron 14: FNVNT
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