“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”- Rom. 13:8
This speaks about being free from debt, yet forever in debt. Love is a debt we owe to everyone that can never be fully discharged. The sad thing is that many fail to make any payments on this debt. Why? There can be no doubt about the debt, God commands us to love others — nor is there any doubt about the fact that we want others to love us. Why then do we fail to love others as we should? Is it because of their sinfulness, or the fact that they hurt us deeply? Do we fear that showing them love will make it appear that we are condoning their sin? Those are excuses we might use, but the fact is, we don’t love them because we don’t love God as we should.
It’s easy to blame our lack of love on the faults of others. Their shortcomings give us plenty excuses for not loving them. And we feel justified in withholding love from them. After all, we reason, they don’t deserve to be loved. Oddly enough we don’t feel that way about ourselves. Regardless of all our faults and failures we expect others to love us. It’s easy to see that something is wrong with that picture! We accept God’s love although we do not deserve it and we expect love from others although we have not earned it-how then can we withhold love from those who need it? Love is a debt we owe to everyone and although we are paying it everyday we can never discharge it fully.The seriousness of this matter is seen in that love is the fulfilling of the law.
Christ loves us unconditionally and we have no right to withhold love from others– regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. While we should hate sin (ours as well as others) we should love the sinner. Many boast about being a faithful Christian based on their church attendance, giving, and service but they don’t take into account that their love is lacking. Doing those things are commendable, but succeeding in some areas doesn’t justify failure in others– especially when it is so important as love, without which we are but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” ( 1 Cor. 13:1). Of all things love is the greatest.–HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
