Advice about Food Offered to False Gods

8 Now, concerning food offered to false gods: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds them up. ² Those who think they know something still have a lot to learn. ³ But if they love God, they are known by God.

⁴ Now about eating food that was offered to false gods: We know that the false gods in this world don’t really exist and that no god exists except the one God. ⁵ People may say that there are gods in heaven and on earth—many gods and many lords, as they would call them. ⁶ But for us,

⁷ But not everyone knows this. Some people are so used to worshiping false gods that they believe they are eating food offered to a false god. So they feel guilty because their conscience is weak.

⁸ Food will not affect our relationship with God. We are no worse off if we eat ⌞that food⌟ and no better off if we don’t. ⁹ But be careful that by using your freedom you don’t somehow make a believer who is weak in faith fall into sin. ¹⁰ For example, suppose someone with a weak conscience sees you, who have this knowledge, eating in the temple of a false god. Won’t you be encouraging that person to eat food offered to a false god? ¹¹ In that case, your knowledge is ruining a believer whose faith is weak, a believer for whom Christ died. ¹² When you sin against other believers in this way and harm their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ.

¹³ Therefore, if eating food ⌞offered to false gods⌟ causes other believers to lose their faith, I will never eat that kind of food so that I won’t make other believers lose their faith.