Thought for Thursday
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
Some people erroneously take today’s text to mean that Christians should never have any debts or obligations. Such people would never have a mortgage on a house, for example, or buy a vehicle that they could not pay for in full. If it were possible, this would be an ideal way to live in some ways, but it severely restricts the ability of people to enjoy the comforts they can reasonably afford, and it prohibits such people from involvement in business and other activities. What our text is referring to by its admonition against owing others is defaulting on debts that we have obligations to pay. For example, a man who buys a car and makes monthly payments that he can easily afford is not violating our text. But a man who buys a car whose payments are beyond his ability to make is in violation. Christians should be careful to avoid the bad testimony of bankruptcy and other financial problems caused by living beyond our means. But the real thrust of our text is not on making sure we pay our bills, it is on paying a bill that is beyond our ability to fully meet.
Some of our debts, such as long-term mortgages, can seem to take an eternity and a half to pay down, let alone pay off. And financial experts tell us that the longer a debt runs, the more you pay out in interest over that time. Long-term debts are almost always a bad deal. But that is not true when it comes to spiritual things. Our text tells us that while we are keeping our financial debts in good order, we need to understand our perpetual responsibility to love each other. For the rest of our lives, we must be aware of this debt and must make payments at every opportunity. Loving our family members may come natural, but it does not always come easy when troubles and difficulties arise. But we are obligated to love them anyway. Loving our neighbours is also part of the debt, and we will find that the more lovable we are to them, the more they will love us in return. But even when they don’t, we must love them. Loving those in our Assembly fellowship is also a debt to discharge, even if our personalities don’t mesh well with those of others. To love the souls of the lost is a great debt and responsibility that should provoke us to exercise in the Gospel, displaying our love by pointing others to the love of God. But why do we have such a great debt of love to pay.
God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, lives within each believer. And one of the great truths about God is that He is love. Allowing the Holy Spirit to be in control of our lives means that we will love others as God does. One of the great revelations to us when we were saved is the greatness of God’s love to us, in the giving of His Son. For all that He has done for us, we owe our God a great debt. And we discharge that debt by loving others.
Sharing the love of our Lord with others means showing them that love, not simply telling them about it. -Jim MacIntosh