Living in the Spirit
September 8, 2023
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 fulfillment 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.
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. How do we live that? I am so tired of living in a world of divide and conquer, a world of making the rich richer resulting in increased poverty. How do we crawl out of this hole of unrighteousness and sometimes self-righteousness? I think it starts with self-examination. How much are we supporting those behaviors and actions without even knowing it? I am a creature of habit, and I do not like to shop, so I trade at the same places without knowing anything about how they treat their staff, how much profit they are making if they pay a living wage with appropriate benefits, employ their staff only part-time so they do not have to pay then certain benefits or work undocumented aliens to whom they do not pay the minimum wage and no benefits.
Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to how we can love our neighbors as we love ourselves by wisely shopping. 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.