Paul told us about the debt of Christian love. What did he mean by that? This devotion looks at going into debt and the debt we can never repay.
Nuggets
- We generally think about debt as monetary debt.
- We will never pay off the debt of love.
- When Jesus responded to a question, He said the two greatest commandments were about love — loving God and loving others.
- Love fulfills the law.
There used to be a different mindset about debt. There was almost a stigma with it.
Not anymore.
Paul instructed us about going into debt. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
Debt, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means “a state of being under obligation to pay or repay someone or something in return for something received : a state of owing.”
One Exception to Don’t Owe
“Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13: 8 CSB)
We generally think about debt as monetary debt. We may read this as an instruction to pay as we go. That has benefits because we lose our independence when we get bogged down in a lot of debt.
Lyth gave three reasons for why we go into debt. First, he noted it indicated a defective morality. What that means is our indicator between right and wrong is broken. While being in debt money wise isn’t a sin, it is possible it could lead to sin.
Second, Lyth stated it showed a desire to build ourselves up in our neighbor’s eyes. Ooo, baby. Didn’t he hit the name on the head there? How many times do we buy something — a better something — that we really can’t afford but do it to impress someone?
Last, Lyth stated it was a blinded conscience. I take that to mean that we are putting our desire in material possessions instead of trusting in God.
We’ve heard about all the bad things debt brings. It opens us up for others taking advantage of us. It hurts our families and society. We don’t count what it will cost us.
We’ve heard all the ways we should stay away from debt. We need to live within our means and not make frivolous purchases. We need to buy only things for which we know we can pay.
Being in debt does go against God’s wishes for us.
- “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender” (Prov. 22: 7 CSB).
- “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” (Ecc. 5: 10 NLT).
It seems Paul is talking about more than money, though. He only put one qualification on what the anything we should not owe.
We should love one another. We will never pay off the debt of love.
Why? Love is the greatest commandment. We are called to love God and love our neighbors. That will be how we will live through eternity.
What all goes into loving someone?
- Being honest
- Having respect
- Putting in the time to make the relationship work
- Putting our needs and want aside at times
Krotel wrote, “Love is the inexhaustible fountain out of which all words and deeds of kindness flow.”
Chalmers felt this meant we should be humble. He felt we should spread the love around to others.
Mason brought up a good point. It is also being accountable to one another. If we are accountable to each other — but one isn’t — that makes a subordinate position.
The Command to and Execution of Love
“The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Rom. 13: 9 CSB)
When Jesus responded to a question, He said the two greatest commandments were about love — loving God and loving others. He said that “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands” (Mt. 22: 40 CSB).
It isn’t that we should just care about our neighbors. It goes deeper.
We should seek what is good for them. We should love others enough to have the tough discussion about their spiritual condition with them.
The kicker is that we are to love them as we do ourselves. The problem is we don’t love ourselves. We see our faults, our failures, and things we lack. We generally do not think we meet whatever standard we have set for ourselves.
Before sin entered the world, we were comfortable in our own skin. Adam and Eve probably didn’t give a thought to what they looked like. Now, that is our focus.
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Still, we generally protect ourselves. We usually have a pretty good fight or flight system going.
Notice that is says we are to love them as we do ourselves — not less, but not more either. Butler stated that “as to actions, the expression of affection, the more others occupy our thoughts the better, provided we neglect not ourselves.”
What did Butler mean by “… neglect not ourselves”? Have you ever been in a relationship where your partner expected you to constantly provide, and do, and be for them? They didn’t want you to focus on yourself. They didn’t want you to be by yourself. They wanted you to focus on them at the detriment of yourself.
Have you ever been in a relationship where you did that to yourself?
Neither is a healthy relationship.
Love really isn’t love until we give it away. Lyth made a good point that it has to be consistent — in word, thought, and actions. It has to be genuine and sincere.
Law Fulfilled
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13: 10 CSB)
Love does no wrong. Oh, yes. We do. We mess up, but the love has to be solid.
We shouldn’t purposefully wrong those we love. We shouldn’t “… commit adultery; … murder; … steal; … covet; and [break] any other commandment” (Rom. 13: 9 CSB).
We’ve got to love sincerely and with all our hearts. It can’t be with an ulterior motive. It has to be genuine.
When Paul said that love fulfills the law, I think he meant a couple of things.
- We do the do’s and don’t do the don’ts because of love, not because we are forced to do them. That is how we show we love God.
- We don’t pick and choose which do’s and don’ts we are going to keep.
It changes our character to be more like God’s. That was the whole purpose of the law — to show us God’s character so that we can imitate Him.
The law is not, as Mellor wrote, “a wanton restraint, a needless burden, the arbitrary exaction of a superior authority, and thus superfluous circumscription of our liberty, and wilful (sic) limitation of our pleasures.” How can it be when the Son frees us? “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn. 8: 36 NIV).
Making the Connections
It is not a sin to borrow money unless the reason we are borrowing it is a sin, but sin itself is called a debt. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt. 6: 12 NIV).
We shouldn’t have “outstanding” sin. When we sin, we should ask God to forgive us of that sin.
Sin is forgiven when we accept the love of God and Jesus. Jesus died to pay off that debt of sin. That is a debt we can never repay — and are not asked to repay.
When we admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord, we gain eternal life. We will spend eternity loving God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
How Do We Apply This?
- We need to confess our sin.
- We need to love others using God’s definition, not the world’s.
Oh, yeah. That last one has a lot of different applications. At a minimum we have to honor and respect others.
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We are to love God and others. We are to live our lives trusting Him, not material possessions. Our lives need to honor Him.
Instead of sin in our loves, we need to work to bring our character in line with His. That will be our way to thank God for devising a way for the penalty of sin be paid. That is the debt of Christian love.
Father God. You are love. You designed Your laws and commandment so we can see Your character. Help us to imitate You and love You and others. May they see You in us and come to know You. Amen.
What do you think?
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