Romans 13:7-8
Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
These verses start out easy enough. But the references to honor and respect make them a little tricky. Just sticking to the money piece: we need to be honest when paying our taxes, or when paying what we legitimately owe to others. Sometimes we want to hold back what we owe because we are in disagreement, or angry or feel we have been treated poorly. But Jesus did not advise us to break any laws of man. Again we are reminded of the most important ongoing debt- to love one another.
Holy Lord, help me to remember to always pay what I owe to others. My feelings regarding fairness or value have no place when it comes to paying what I owe. Most importantly, may I love others every day, in all situations, not holding back. Amen
Becky, transforming
Romans 13:7-8
I wasn’t sure where the topic of debt was going to lead us. These verses give us very sound advice about our worldly obligations and even better advice about love being an obligation to be dealt with the very same way. We know Jesus told us more than once to love our neighbor and then explained exactly what that meant. Between the parable of the Good Samaritan and the Great Commandment, we should know how to love.
Prayer: Gracious God. If only we could all just love our neighbor, instead of being afraid of them, what a different world this could be. Amen
Wednesday, February 14th, 2024
Romans 13:7-8
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Real love is a decision to seek the best for one another. Real love meets the needs even when sacrifice is required to do it. Paul says that we are to think of this as an obligation to everyone. The only debt that a child of God can never finish paying is love. This was a spiritual awakening for me . Love is…
Romans 13:7-8
“Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” After all the money has changed hands, what remains is Jesus’ Great Commandment. We will embark this Lenten season on a journey called “Foolish Love.” The world values money far more than it values love. Loving others as yourself is pure foolishness in this kind of culture, but Christians have signed up to be fools for Christ. Ironic, is it not, that the greatest debt we owe can never be repaid by us, but has been paid by Jesus Himself?
Prayer - Merciful God, help us to learn that in diligently and honestly attending to our earthly debts, we honor You, demonstrate our commitment to love one another and thus fulfill…