Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he
WEEK 17
LIVING LIKE WE'RE REALLY AWAKE
ROMANS 13:8-14
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
GRACIOUS FATHER, even Your law is an expression of your love. Not only does love perfectly fulfill the law's moral demands;
it also powerfully testifies about the truth of the gospel.1
Our love for You
and our love for one another
furthermore demonstrate that we are spiritually awake
to the soon return of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
All the truths about You unveiled in Scripture, all the great doctrines,
all aspects of the unfolding story of redemption come down to this:
that we might know You, the only true God, through Jesus Christ, and walk in obedience to Him for our own eternal joy as a loving community of believers, bringing glory to Your holy name forever.2
Anyone who does not love does not truly know You,
because You are a God of love.3
The sum of Your commandments is love. All that you require of us is that we love You
with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love others as ourselves.4
And yet, Lord, we fall far short of loving You as we should. Love for self too often overwhelms our love for one another. Even the best of our love is but a faint glimmer
of what it ought to be. We stand in desperate need of daily grace and forgiveness,
and we confess that apart from Your mercy to us
we would be utterly without hope. But when we were lost, You found us. You called us and drew us to Christ. You brought us up out of a horrible pit—
out of the miry clay—and set our feet upon a rock.5
We want to be spiritually awakened. Help us to realize and bear in mind that our final salvation,
the eternal glory of heaven, is nearer to us than when we believed. The day will soon dawn when we enter
the glory of Your presence. Until that dawning, while we remain in this world
before Your Son's glorious return, we yearn to live in holy, not sinful, ways.
Empower us unto holiness as we seek to walk in a way
that is consistent with Your wonderful love and
Your perfect righteousness. Give us humility to know that no matter how we resolve
to live to Your honor, we have no strength of our own to accomplish that end. So we walk by faith from day to day,
depending on our heavenly Father to meet our needs. Grant us more of the faith that overcomes the world.6
It is our blessed privilege as Your children
to come boldly to the throne of grace again and again, where we always receive mercy and find grace to help
in time of need.7
Christ paid an infinite price to cover our sins,
and therefore the wellspring of Your mercy
is free and inexhaustible. Such is the great love You bestowed on us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses.8
We come therefore to worship You
as those who live by Your love. May Your love be the mold that shapes
our actions, our words, our character, and our very lives. May love be the rule by which we live,
the principle that governs our dealings with others,
and a signboard for the whole world to see and honor Christ. We pray in His precious name. Amen.
1. John 13:35 2. John 17:3-26 3. 1 John 4:8 4. Matthew 22:36-40 5. Psalm 40:2 6. 1 John 5:4 7. Hebrews 4:16 8. Ephesians 2:3-4