"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing
debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law "
— Romans 13:8 (NIV)
Paul's meaning here is not "no debt". Paul himself in the previous verse said, "Give to everyone what you owe them" (Rm 13:7 - NIV). Paul's point here is that love is our debt to others. No matter how much we have paid for it, we still have to do it. That's our debt. A wife takes care of her husband who is sick, no matter how many times she has done it. It is a debt she "has to pay". It is an embodiment of the promise she made before the altar during the Holy Matrimony: "To be faithful in health and in sickness, in gain and in misfortune."
We owe love to others, not because they gave something to us
first. Absolutely not. We owe each other because God has given us His love.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." ( 1 Jn
3:16). So God's love should underlie every act that we do. Love fulfills the
law. We should do good deeds to someone not out of compulsion, or because it is
obligatory to do. We do that out of love. May we always owe love to each other.
May love always be our basis in doing our obligations and loving each other.
Amen.
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