Living in the Spirit

September 5, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 13:8-14
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Paul assumes we owe a debt and that debt is owed to God. We are to love one another on God’s behalf. The best way we can show our love for God is to love one another. The commandments are just a list of examples that demonstrate what it means to love another. We in the USA are struggling mightily with this concept. Almost every news program I watch starts with reports on disasters, instances of violence, murders, possible police brutality, and political shenanigans. I am particularly dismayed watching people refusing to wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID 19 virus because it restricts there Constitutional Rights. No one has the right to cause the death of another person through recklessness. I think reporters and anchors must get weary of reporting bad news. Most have started adding a human interest story showing that there is still goodness in our world.

We owe everything to God. When we love God deeply and ultimately, we are empowered to love all others even when we have been carefully taught that some do not deserve our love. Giving up preconceived notions about others is hard, particularly ideas that were past to us from people we cherish. Thinking someone else’s life is less important than our own is an affront to God in whose image we all were created.

I did not know my great great grandfather. From all reports, he was a good Christian gentleman. He also owned slaves, left them by name to his children in his will. Owning slaves was just the standard way to do business during the 1840s in the USA. That legacy remains with us today. We have to wonder what such “usual ways of doing business” are we passing on to the next generations that are not based on loving God and loving like Jesus. More importantly, what are we doing to change such behavior?

Prayer: God of Hope and Love, show us the ways we can love you better by loving each other better. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.