Colossians 2:16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

This scripture, if read alone and without context, could feed our natural rebellious desires to do what we want and to heck with what anyone else says. That attitude is not just prevalent today but is celebrated as some kind of sign of personal development and maturity. (Short note: it’s not.)

But to truly understand and apply this scripture, we also have to look at its context in the previous verses, and in light of Romans 14 and I Corinthians 10. But first, the original context: Paul is encouraging his readers not to succumb to the enticing false philosophies of the day, and to remember that Christ has fulfilled the law. They needed to be reminded that keeping the old Jewish laws was no longer necessary, as they were simply shadows of what had come. Apparently false philosophies, a move toward asceticism, and angel worship were part of the package of temptations to those struggling with the freedom that Christ had brought them. Paul is reminding his readers that they shouldn’t accept judgment from those participating in those false teachings, and should remember that they are completely forgiven and free in Christ. (Read the whole chapter for a fuller understanding.)

There are other scriptures addressing the issue of passing judgment, and they expand on what’s written in Colossians. Romans 14:13 says, “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” So Paul flips the script here from focusing on not receiving judgment from others to instructing us not to pass judgment on others, and in fact, to be aware of not putting a stumbling block in a brother’s way with our own actions.

Might that limit our freedom? Yes, if you’re speaking of our freedom to do what we want when we want. What the scriptures tell us is that we are so free in Christ that we can easily choose to limit our freedom of choice if it is going to hinder someone else in their walk with the Lord.

I Corinthians 10:27-29 deals in principle with this dilemma: “If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ [which the person at that time should avoid if they knew that] then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I do not mean your conscience, but his.”

So we are free from the judgment of others when it comes to living our lives in Christian freedom. We are so free, in fact, that we have the power to forego our own desires and our freedom if it means that someone else might be genuinely offended. Now we’re not talking about the so-called microaggressions that our culture is currently so enamored with. But if we know that someone is honestly offended by our doing something we are free in our conscience to do, then our freedom extends to loving them by foregoing our free choice at the moment. Loving ourselves insists on doing what we want in this kind of circumstance. Loving God rejoices in the freedom we have in Christ to love others by refraining from an action we know would stumble someone else. Today we don’t worry about meat sold after it has been offered to idols, but we are more likely to run into issues of alcohol use, movies, language, discussion of certain topics, and more. If we are in a posture of love and edification toward others, and work to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will generally know what to do and what not to do. Either way, we are free in Christ!