Paul gives us two sentences in verse 22 that help drive home the point that we're called to lift each other up rather than tear each other down.

In verse 20, Paul said everything was clean. So why is he now in verse 21 telling us that it is good to not eat meat? Because our job is to not cause each other to stumble. We unpack that.

Paul counsels to not destroy the work of God for the sake of something as trivial as food. We explore how we can display the work of God in our lives and in our churches.

Paul concludes that our job is to work towards peace with each other and mutual upbuilding. We talk about what it means to build someone up, as opposed to tearing them down.

Paul says that whoever lives in the Holy Spirit (and through the Holy Spirit has righteousness, peace, and joy) is serving Christ in a way that is acceptable to God. We dig into the root of the Holy Spirit.

My seven-year-old joins us to tell us how we celebrate what verse 16 calls good: by living with great joy.

Our new years devotional tells us to protect what we believe to be good. We explore this concept of good through the parable of the talents.

Paul says that as we minister to our brothers and sisters in Christ, the last thing we should be doing is to cause them grief. We explore how Jesus ministered to others in love.

Paul ties his big lesson for this section--do not be a stumbling block on another's walk with Jesus--to the specific problem in the church in Rome of maintaining kosher eating.

Paul starts a new section directed at the "strong," the Gentile Christians in the church in Rome, by telling them not to be stumbling blocks in the way of other believers.