Accountable to God alone

From today's reading:  Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. . .  Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? . . For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. . .  So then, each of us will be accountable to God.  Romans 14:1, 10-12

This lesson from Romans is mostly about acceptance of others - whether they are Christians who believe differently from us or non-Christians.  Paul goes on to expound on some of the differences of his day.  Down through the years those differences have changed with the cultures that were prominent at the time.   I'm not sure why we think it is our job to change others to meet our own criteria for life.  

One example is people who get married thinking they are going to change their spouse once the knot is tied.  Not gonna happen.  We can only change ourselves - not someone else.  The Holy Spirit is the 'change agent' that God has placed in the world.  Rather than trying to change others, we need to allow the Holy Spirit the time and room to work - in us as much as in others.

What Paul is saying here is that it's not our place to judge or condemn or change people who are different.  God will not hold us accountable for another's life or sin.  We each have to stand before God in the end, and God alone will judge.  Each of us will be judged on our sin only and not that of another.  At some point, each of us will stand before God and will be held accountable for the way we receive and treat our brothers and sisters here on earth.  We are accountable to God alone.