Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For 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: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Rom 13:8-10)Many have misunderstood that first phrase -- "Owe no one anything." It isn't a commentary on debt; it is a command to pay what you owe (Rom 13:7). Don't withhold payment. So the "except to love each other" says, "This will be an ongoing, unending debt that needs to constantly be paid." We never stop owing others love. And love should be our motivation for paying what we owe. Paul offers samples from the law along with the overview: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." He concludes "Love does no wrong to a neighbor" and, therefore, "love is the fulfilling of the law." The first thing you'll notice is that this is not today's version of "love." Our modern version is "warm affection" or, more likely, sexual in content. This love is not that. This love seeks the best for the loved one. This love is selfless, considering first the well-being of others (Rom 15:2-3; Php 2:3-4). Or, here in this text, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor." Not your standard description of love these days.
Contemplate that for a moment. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor." At the start, we can pull up easy examples. Love doesn't allow you to sleep with someone else's spouse (adultery). Clear enough. Same with stealing or coveting. Love doesn't allow those. Those are wrong. No, not the right phrase. Those are wrongs that can be done to another. Easy examples. Now let's find some of our own. How about this "me first" kind of world we live in? Does that work in this context? Is it love to always insure that I get mine first? No. How about if you find a sale on something you know your friend has been looking for? Do you tell him/her or do you keep quiet? Not telling them what would benefit them would wrong them, see? In all of this, we're looking at the same motivation, the same guiding principle, the same aim -- love. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. (We're using "neighbor" in the way Jesus did -- people in your sphere of influence.) Do what's right for your neighbors ... out of love. One more example, then. I had a friend who came to me and told me about his marriage on the rocks. She didn't love him. He didn't love her. But she had an 18-year-old daughter who did and he was planning to divorce his wife and marry her daughter. He looked to me for encouragement. By today's standards, love would be "nonjudgmental" and "tolerant" and "never say an unpleasant thing." "Don't impose your ideas on others." If I knew what Scripture says about divorce and about sexual immorality and I kept silent, it would not be the kind of love this text is talking about. The kind of love we recognize today would wrong my neighbor by withholding important truth from him. Note, however, that a "love" that bashes him over the head for being such a bonehead is also disqualified in this version of love.
Paul says that love is the fulfillment of the law because love does no wrong to a neighbor. We owe that to those with whom we have anything to do. Therefore, if we are to love as commanded, we need to be careful to do no wrong to our loved ones. That wrong could be commission -- doing wrong. That wrong could omission -- failing to do what is right. In all cases, then, we are commanded to love as Christ loved us (John 13:34) -- a tall order -- which puts others and their best interests first. Even if sometimes they don't see it.
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