Romans
13:8-12
“Owe no one anything,” is a
reasonable proverb for daily living, but paired with the clause,
“except to love one another,” challenges us to live and love as
Christ did. I can be in debt to you and owe you money, or need
to return a favour; a debt of this sort is something that I can pay
back and be finished with forever. If we consider “love
one another” as a debt we owe to one another, there is no measure
by which we can tell if it is ever fully repaid. Likewise if
love is a debt to others, then love isn’t something that I can
bestow only upon the favoured few; my family and friends, for that is
arrogance. Instead, I am a debtor who owes everyone this love
and I must offer what love I have to my neighbour. The miracle
of giving away our love is that when we pour out it out from our
hearts towards our neighbour, then more love flows in, and the more
we grow into the image and likeness of the One who first loved us
into being.
But not only do we need to love our
neighbour but also the Earth too and see what we can do to realize
that we are debtors to the world God made and loves. Think of
how we recklessly extract resources from the earth as if we owned
them. Look at each person you encounter today and at the world
around you and say to yourself, “I owe you love,” and then offer
them the love you have. You can be assured that more love will
pour in for you to do this each and every day you live and we will be
living as Christ lived and loved. Thanks be to God.
Sr. Elizabeth Ann Eckert
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