Man forgets that the Lord is God and that we will all have to give an account, instead he puts himself in the judgement seat. We need to constantly remind ourselves not to do this, and constantly passing judgement on others is an example of forgetting who the Judge really is. Jesus told the parable of the servant who was forgiven a great debt and then went on to refuse to forgive someone who owed him a little (Matt 18:21-35).
Constantly comparing ourselves to others is also a sign that we have not appreciated God's forgiveness of ourselves. We now have no need to prove ourselves, so we are free to act and think aright, Instead of trying to prove ourselves better than others, we should be considering the needs of others, refusing to put unnecessary stumbling blocks in their way.
In the matter of food Paul was convinced that all food was, other things being equal, fine to eat (Mark 7:19,20), but he would still desist from eating something if need be. We need to guard our own conscience, and that of others. If we do something that goes against our conscience then it causes us guilt it makes us less able to serve God. We are to make sure we do not unnecessarily offend someone else's conscience. Instead we are to act in love, not out of proving how "wise" we are.
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