Romans 14:10 - On the Same Side

But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you again, why do you look down on your [believing] brother or regard him with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge].—Romans 14:10 AMP

It is so hard in our Christian walks to keep our eyes on the right things.   Chapter 14 of Romans is so helpful in this.  It reminds me that each of us will give an account of himself to God.  My natural man wrongly “feeds” off of  judging others or putting others down because in my small fleshly mind that somehow lifts me up and brings me forward.  Beloved, Satan wins if he is successful in pitting us against one another.  Life as a believer is a spiritual battle.  The Bible tells us we do not war against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,—2 Corinthians 10:3-5

It reminds me that as believers we are one body and one in Christ.  We are on the same side, fighting the same battle and working toward the same goal....with one mind we are to be striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Father...Help me today when my flesh desires to judge others....to plank, speck or tear down...help me instead to edify and to remember the words of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:

"Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.

Help me to strive to encourage and build up my brothers and sisters in our mutual faith....not stumble or tear down.  Enable me by Your Spirit today to put on kindness, love and tender mercies...to owe them only love.  Love does no harm to a neighbor...love is the fulfillment of the law.  

Ending with a fitting prayer from Philippians, Chapter 1. 

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Oded- 2 Chronicles 28:9

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: "Look, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.—2 Chronicles 28:9

This is the only mention of the prophet Oded that I could find but I bet the people of Judah and Jerusalem thanked God for his ministry and his courage to speak for them.  Amazingly, the Israelites complied with the prophet’s warning. (Vs 12-15)

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"—Esther 4:14

Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.fn
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.—Proverbs 31:8-9