When my wife Pam and I got married in 1974, we had no credit history at all. I remember telling my Dad that we were going to pay cash for everything and he just smiled. We soon discovered though, that we had to establish credit in order to rent an apartment or buy a car so we set up a credit card and bought a chair...and we have had credit cards ever since. Recently, I read that the average US credit cardholder had over $6,000 in credit card debt. However, not everyone has credit card debt. Are you one of those living debt-free? Not according to our Scripture passage for today! Let’s listen to what Paul wrote to the congregation in Rome about debt. It may surprise you, so let's listen to it:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8)

In today's passage, Paul writes that none of us are debt-free because we all have a "continuing debt." Let's listen to that part of the passage again: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another." We are all in debt to one another, and it is a debt which you and I can never pay off. We owe each other a debt of love. Why do we have this debt? Because of what Jesus has done for us. We used to sing a song in church that went like this:

"He paid a debt He did not owe, I owe a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song, Amazing Grace. Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay."

I love those lyrics. Jesus paid it all, and because of His mighty, redemptive love, we are indebted to one another. The final sentence of today's passage tells us that "Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." Love is a practical word, not a spiritual concept. Real love must be acted out. Are you paying your debt of love to others today or are you falling behind in your payments?

Today, take a few prayerful moments to consider how you can demonstrate practical love to the people you will encounter today. When you and I love others in practical ways we become more like Jesus...and that’s such very Good News!