It’s Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025. I have two daughters. One of them is a little… let’s say “ground challenged.” I have to hold her hand even when we’re walking on flat pavement, because somehow her feet will find the one invisible crack in the universe. The other moves like a tiny ballerina—she loves leaping from rock to rock, gliding over obstacles like it’s nothing. Both are precious to me. Both deserve love and care. One is just more prone to tripping hazards.
Today's Reading:
Romans 13,14,15,16
Scripture
“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.” (Romans 14:19–20)
Observation
Have you ever been in an argument where you know you’re right and the other person is wrong? That’s exactly what’s happening in the Roman church. Some believers came from strict Jewish backgrounds; others from idol-filled Gentile cultures. They’re bumping into each other over food and holidays. One group says, “It’s just food, it’s not a big deal.” The other can’t separate that food from their past.
Paul reminds them that “all food is clean.” At this the spiritually strong ones feel theologically vindicated in their arguments, but their “victory” is short-lived. Because he tells them, “it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.”
So, being right can also be wrong… if it trips another person up. They were becoming the tripping hazard.
Application
Some people are just naturally and spiritually more “graceful”—things roll off them, they’re not bothered by much. Others get tripped up by the smallest things. Maybe they’re less “graceful,” but that just means the people around them have an opportunity to extend more grace.
The irony for me is I often get tripped up by the things that trip up others. Their sensitivities annoy me. Their “small” issues become my big issues. In a way, that’s exactly Paul’s warning in Romans 14! We can be so convinced something is trivial that we don’t see how our reaction to their reaction is now the real tripping hazard.
However, the challenge is on me to, “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” I need to be someone that removes the tripping hazards… so that I don’t become one myself.
Prayer
Lord, thank You that You don’t love me based on how “graceful” I am. You hold my hand when I trip over flat ground, and You stick with me even when I become the tripping hazard. Teach me to treat others the same way. Help me use my strength to clear the path. Make me someone who builds peace and lifts others up, step by step. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
–Chris Kiriakos
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