Romans 13:8-10

Rachel Workman: ⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Love is where it's at. Love and compassion for our fellow man is what keeps us from doing harm to others.

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Allen Michaels:  ⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Why, is love for others called a debt? We are permanently in debt to Christ from the lavish love he has poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay this 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. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Many of us think that self-love is wrong. And even though we may have low self-esteem, we don’t let ourselves go hungry. We cloth ourselves appropriately. We make sure we have a roof over our head, and we get angry if someone tries to ruin our marriage. This is the exact kind of love that God wants us to have for our neighbors. Do we see that others are fed, clothed and housed as well as they can be? Are we concerned about issues of social justice? Loving others as ourselves means to be actively working to see that their needs are met. How do we know? We simply ask. Interestingly, people who focus on others rather than themselves rarely suffer from low self-esteem. ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Christians MUST obey the law of love, which supersedes both religious and civil laws. How easy it is to excuse our indifference to others merely because we have no legal obligation to help them, and even to justify harming them in our actions are technically legal! Be warned, Jesus does not leave loop-holes in the law of love.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Romans 13:11-14

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.