“Pay all your debts, except for the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law.”
Romans 13:8 NLT
Money is one of those topics (along with religion and politics) that can get you into trouble. Most people recommend you don’t even touch on those topics in polite conversation. But I like to live dangerously so today’s topic touches on ⅔ of those dangerous topics: money and religion. Specifically, I’m writing about debt and God.
If you have ever been in debt, you’ve probably heard of Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey encourages people to live a debt-free life. His big idea is that if – today – you live like no one else (meaning: live frugally) later you can live like no one else (meaning: live out those dreams you’ve been able to save up for with your frugal life). The only debt Dave Ramsey [somewhat] advocates is a mortgage, but even then he clarifies that it should be for no longer than 15 years.
What does the Bible say about this topic? Does God advocate for any debt? Funny you should ask – I just read something about that this past week! In Romans 13, Paul shares
“Pay all your debts, except for the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law.”
Romans 13:8 NLT
God advocates for paying all our debts except ONE – loving others.
But why does God call it a debt to love others? Here’s what my Bible commentary had to say about that:
“We are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love he has poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay that debt is by loving others in turn. Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours, we will always have the obligation to love our neighbors.”
That’s pretty awesome. It is incredible to think that God loves each of us so much that we will never be able to repay it. I also think it’s pretty cool that God wants us to pay that debt by loving others. When you take a loan out from a bank, they want that money paid back to them, not someone else. But God asks us to repay his loan of love by giving others what he gave us.
This week’s goals: 1) be more financially responsible and 2) love others like I have access to an unlimited supply of love… because I do.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for using a concept I understand as a way of connecting me to how much you love me. It really does blow my mind that you love me that much. Please help me to always remember to love everyone that much. Amen.
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