WEEK 28 – DAY 4

THE DEBT OF LOVE

Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. . .Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8 &10

“You owe me, big time!” says the little sister after doing a particularly unpleasant task for her brother; and it seems she collects on that debt several times. Nothing he can do seems to measure up to her estimation of the effort she put forth. It is truly difficult to teach children to do things for others out of love, with no expectation of reward. Then, if they finally grasp that concept, they take it to a seemingly logical conclusion that they should not do something nice in return for someone else’s kindness because that might cause the other person to expect rewards. Now that we are grown up, have we truly grasped our debt of love? If I take food to the neighbor when her husband is in the hospital, do I expect the same from her if I’m in a similar situation? My motivation for kindness should be the debt that I owe Christ and obedience to His command to love my neighbor. I should not harm my neighbor or even retaliate when they harm me. I should love. How can I do this when I have a rotten neighbor that gets along with no one? I should begin by praying for the person who is so difficult to love. The Lord will give me grace to overlook many faults and see the person that He wishes to bring to Himself. I should pray that the Lord will show me ways to show His love through kind words and deeds with no expectation of having kindness returned. Hard? Yes. Impossible? No. Remember that Christ went to the cross for that difficult person. Recall how little you deserved to have Christ die in your place, and yet, He calls you His beloved. I believe this will help you to allow Christ to love through you. We can never love enough to pay the debt we owe, but we are commanded to love. If God commands us to do something, He enables us to do it.

Father, help us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Love others through us. Help us to love without expecting a reward. Give us the strength we need to continue to show love even when our efforts are rewarded with ingratitude or even hate. Thank You for loving us although we can do nothing to deserve Your love and have done many things that are undeserving of Your love.