Debt Free & Indebted

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10


One of the most wonderful joys of my life is that I have always been surrounded by people who are wonderful role models for how to love. My father had a huge heart and was always loving of others. My mother was someone who taught me at a very early age of how to be loving and respectful toward others particularly women. Then my wife has been a wonderful loving person who is fully driven by the adage that love truly does not fail, and has loved me both because and in spite of the person I am. Each of them has greatly helped me to show more love toward others.

However, I have to be constantly reminded that I need to watch my love for something else; Best Buy. I have learned to be more disciplined as I have grown older, but I use to always buy the latest technology not having a care for how much it costs and if I could afford it. This of course would lead to debt, which if I was not careful would cause greater harm than good.

Today’s verse has a dual purpose, and is a prime example of what we are to do as fellow Christians. It first discusses debt. Many of you know who Dave Ramsey is (Christian Financial advisor), and he constantly talks about how Christian it is for us to be responsible for our debt and live a debt free life. Being in debt is sometimes inevitable, but it is something not to be carried and leveraged against forever. God made us to be a free people both spiritually and financially. We are given freedom from our sins and guilt through Jesus Christ. We are thus entrusted to be debt free financially as well and manage ours debts accordingly.

This leads us to the one thing God does want us to be indebted to; love. If we are to live debt free, why would He ask that we are indebted to love? I once wrote that the lesson of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life is that no matter what your situation is, you can love your way out of it. Perhaps God intended love to be a symbol to others that we are Christians. Or maybe God knew that if everyone were indebted to love, fear or darkness would never exist. Another thought is that the only thing in life that is limitless is love. After all, the best things in life are free, and of these, the greatest is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). All of these statements are true, but Paul points out yet something more profound. Love for others is the fulfillment of the law, and it does so by both being the foundation for many of the commandments (Romans 13:9) and causing no harm to others (Romans 13:10).

The life of Jesus summarizes what today’s verses really mean to us and what we as Christians are to always remember. He paid our debt for our sins, and gave His life freely because He loved us so. As always, Jesus is our truth and light. As we continue to grow in our walk of faith, those things become clearer to us. My prayer is that we live both a debt free life and abundantly indebted one to love.