As the Book of Romans winds down, it gets more straightforward and easier to comprehend.
Here in chapter 14, Paul tackles two issues that seem to be a stumbling block. The main one is that he reiterates that all food are clean and there is nothing that is unclean of itself. He even state that people are free to eat whatever they like, with the exception of anything that causes conflict with other people.
He also gives similar advice to drinking wine. He does not forbid alcohol use, but rather states that if its consumption causes conflicts, then it is wrong.
A lesser issue he spends time on is "sacred" days. This probably refers to Sabbath days and Holy Days. Here, he seems to give flexibility on the days of worship of God.
Christmas is approaching and its fairly common knowledge that the origin of the day of December 25th to celebrate the Nativity was because it coincided with the winter solstice. As the Gospel spread to northern Europe, northern tribes venerated the winter solstice. The Christians decided to have a party for Jesus on the same day as the solstice to help them convert.
Centuries later, the winter solstice has moved off of December 25 to 21, but yet the 25th has remained the traditional date to celebrate the Nativity.
Personally, I think verses like Romans 14:5 provide that flexibility in the sacredness of days. Likewise, if we think of food offered before idols, December 25th was offered as a day before idols in the past. But according to Paul, there is nothing wrong with celebrating on that day.
That said, if someone has a problem with celebrating the Incarnation and Nativity on December 25 - and many people do - then they should not be forced to. Likewise, they should not tell other Christians that they should not. Grace on the days goes both ways.
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