Rom. 13:8
"Owe no man anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
How important is love? It is the one thing that I owe all men. In essence, I am in debt to others, a debt that can be paid only by love. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Love eliminates wrong doing, strife, hostility, offenses, unkindness, gossip, and so many other things that interfere with positive relationships. A love this powerful can only come from God. At salvation, His Spirit indwells me and produces His fruit in my life, the fruit of love.
If love is indeed a debt, then it is not optional. It doesn't depend on my preferences about people or how they treat me. It is a spiritual love given by God and cultivated by the Spirit that responds in obedience to the clear commands of Scripture. For the unsaved, my love shares God's love and His gift of salvation, and for believers my love helps others grow into mature manhood in the fullness of Christ. My love must be a reflection of Jesus Christ to those people that God has put in my life. As others see me, do they see me with all my fleshly failings, or do they see the miraculous love of God? Am I reflecting Jesus Christ?
Father,
Thank You for Your great gift of love to me. Help me to reflect Your love to others in all that I do and say. Let my hands by Your hands and my heart be Your heart reaching out to others in a true, sincere love.
In Jesus name,
Amen
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