‘Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law.”

Romans 13:8

You can't help but notice all the hatred and violence in our world today. The news is ripe with it and it seems like more and more our entertainment is centered around violent, hate-filled acts. Even the popular music nowadays is becoming increasingly nasty, with hateful lyrics about killing and hurting people. It's frightening and very disturbing. I mean, it's one thing to say we live in a fallen world, but the way the world looks now, it has not only fallen but it's down for the count. In light of that, this scripture is quite a call for us to be as different in our world as light is to darkness or day is to night. Especially as Christian Boylovers, because we are among the most hated people on the earth.

How do you show love to a person who either cannot or will not return that love? How do you overcome the urge to just turn away from those people that you know are against you or don't care about you. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why should I love that person? He dosen't give a darn about me." or "He probably dosen't even know that I exist, why should I love him? HOW can I love him?" I know I've said these things and often balked at the thought of showing love to some people. I think it's only natural to do so. But then I have to remember that not only does Jesus command us to love others, Paul even goes so far as to say that it is a "debt of love" and one that we can never finish paying. Imagine Master Card or Visa telling you that you will never, ever be able to finish paying them off (I know, sometimes it seems like this might be true with those people, but there is usually always some kind of light at the end of that tunnel.). At least owing a debt of love is so much better than owing a large amount of money.

When paying our debt of love to others, maybe it would be helpful to think about how God is never finished paying His debt of love towards us. Perhaps He dosen't think of it in those terms but still he is always showing us His love anyways. Always! As our constant provider and caregiver, God is showing us how to love others. He does cause the sun to shine on the both the good and the evil of our world because He loves both equally. He loves you and I AND all of our enemies as well as all of our friends. We are all created in love and held together by love. And God's love never waivers, regardless of how badly we act or throw it back in His face. He is our perfect example.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help us to always see how we can love others; even those who are difficult to love. Please give us a real burden to live the way that Jesus lived in this world, constantly showing your love to all who came to him, even those who were difficult to love. May we never see the words "Paid in Full" on our monthly love bills, but gladly pay more than we need to! In Jesus name, Amen!