Meditation: Romans 13:8 Don’t owe anyone anything — except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow human being has fulfilled Torah. 9 For the commandments, “Don’t commit adultery,” “Don’t murder,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t covet,”[Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13–14(17), Deuteronomy 5:17–18(21)] and any others are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[Romans 13:9 Leviticus 19:18] 10 Love does not do harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fullness of Torah.
Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop (Memorial)
You shall love. (Romans 13:9)
Imagine trying to reach a destination with directions that state only “Don’t take this road” or “Avoid that highway.” You’d probably never get to where you want to go! Instructions like “Don’t” and “You shall not” tend to stop us in our tracks. Of course, they are useful and beneficial because God knows, we need to be stopped from time to time! But the commandments “You shall not commit adultery, kill, steal, or covet” don’t move us to love more; they just keep us from failing to love.
On the other hand, “You shall love” propels us forward. It spurs us on to treat the people around us the way God treats us: with patience and kindness, with compassion and understanding. It urges us to forgive over and over, even seventy times seven times. It teaches us to let go of our grudges and to treat people with honor and consideration far beyond what they deserve—all because this is exactly how our heavenly Father deals with us. He doesn’t just not hate us. He doesn’t just not mistreat us. He lifts us up and fills us with every grace and blessing!
Think of the times you have known or experienced the love of God especially deeply. That is the love God wants us to show the people around us today. It’s a love that is patient with someone who is slow to “get it,” whether “it” is grasping an explanation, accelerating when the traffic light turns green, or placing a fortieth item on the ten-item express lane at the grocery store. It’s a love that is kind, even in little things like holding a door for a stroller-pushing shopper or paying a compliment when it is least expected. It’s a love that extends consideration and honor to everyone, regardless of his or her social position.
“You shall love” (Romans 13:9). This command is for each of us, no matter how we are feeling. Our acts of love, however small or seemingly inconsequential, open the door for the Holy Spirit to come in more fully and change the atmosphere, both in our hearts and in whatever place we find ourselves.
So get out there, and change the world, simply by loving!
“Holy Spirit, give me a fresh outpouring of your love so that I can share it with everyone I meet today!” Amen!
Psalms 112:1
Halleluyah!
How happy is anyone who fears Adonai,
who greatly delights in his mitzvot.
2 His descendants will be powerful on earth,
a blessed generation of upright people.
4 To the upright he shines like a light in the dark,
merciful, compassionate and righteous.
5 Things go well with the person who is merciful and lends,
who conducts his affairs with fairness;
9 He distributes freely, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness stands forever.
His power will be increased honorably.
Luke 14:25 Large crowds were traveling along with Yeshua. Turning, he said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers and his sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he cannot be my talmid. 27 Whoever does not carry his own execution-stake and come after me cannot be my talmid.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Don’t you sit down and estimate the cost, to see if you have enough capital to complete it? 29 If you don’t, then when you have laid the foundation but can’t finish, all the onlookers start making fun of you 30 and say, ‘This is the man who began to build, but couldn’t finish!’
31 “Or again, suppose one king is going out to wage war with another king. Doesn’t he first sit down and consider whether he, with his ten thousand troops, has enough strength to meet the other one, who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he hasn’t, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation to inquire about terms for peace.
33 “So every one of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid.
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