1 Corinthians 8 NLT
1 Now regarding your question about food
that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about
this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that
strengthens the church.
2Anyone who claims to know all the answers
doesn’t really know very much.
3But the person who loves God is the one whom
God recognizes.
4 So, what about eating meat that has been
offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that
there is only one God.
5 There may be so-called gods both in
heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many
lords.
6 But for us, There is one God, the
Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one
Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we
live.
7 However, not all believers know this.
Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food
that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods,
and their weak consciences are violated.
8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s
approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we
don’t gain anything if we do.
9 But you must be careful so that your
freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.
10 For if others see you—with your
“superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged
to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an
idol?
11So because of your superior knowledge, a weak
believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed.
12 And when you sin against other believers
by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning
against Christ.
13 So if what I eat causes another believer
to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause
another believer to stumble.
