For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Romans 14:13

What does the freedom I have in Christ mean to the people around me? First, liberty in Christ isn’t permission to live in open sin. No, we are to live in freedom from sin. Freedom to live in such a way that makes a statement in our own circles of faith and in the larger world around us.

In Romans 14, Paul is specifically addressing certain foods that caused division in the church. Paul says, “Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.”

In this passage Paul encourages us to “pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding”(v. 19) and “it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.(v. 21)”

There is the key phrase here I think- doing things that cause “your brother to stumble.” Think about your influence on your family, friends and those you at work. Are you encouraging them by your daily walk or could you be causing someone to stumble in their faith?