We
are in debt to everybody!
"Little children, we must not love in word
or speech--but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:18
"Do not owe anyone anything--except to
love one another." Romans 13:8
We are in debt to everybody! Love is a debt which never can be
altogether settled. You may pay it all off today--but tomorrow
you will find it as heavy as ever. It is a debt which everybody
owes to everybody. Nor can it be paid off with any mere
sentimental love. It cost Paul a great deal, to settle his
obligations and pay his debts to others.
There is a sort of philanthropic sentiment which some people
have, which does not cost them very much. But to pay his debts
of love, Paul gave up all he had, and then gave himself up to
service, suffering, and sacrifice to the very uttermost. True
love always costs! Love's essential quality, is unselfish
helpfulness, the carrying of the life with all its rich gifts
and powers in such a way--that it may be a blessing to every
other life which it touches.
As Christians, we owe love to everyone--and love always serves.
Serving is an essential quality of love. The true standard of
greatness--is service. It is not what our life is in gifts, in
culture, in strength--but what we do with our life, which is the
real test of character. Our Lord taught this truth when he said,
"Whoever wants to become great among you--must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first--must be slave of all." Mark
10:43-44. He who serves the most fully and the most unselfishly,
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Love seeks to give, to minister, to be of use, to do good to
others. The true Christian desires to serve others, to minister
to their comfort, to be a help and a blessing to them. It is
thus, that we should relate ourselves to every person who comes
within our influence. Love will lead us to ask concerning
everyone who passes before us, "What can I do to help this
brother of mine, to add to his happiness, to relieve his
trouble, to put him in the way of holiness, to comfort his
sorrow?" If this were the habitual attitude of our love,
paradise would soon be restored. It would put an end to all our
miserable pride, to all our petty tyrannies and despotisms.
Love works most effectively--when it works unconsciously, almost
instinctively, inspired from within. That is the best service,
which flows out of the heart and life--as light from the sun, as
fragrance from a flower. There is no other way of paying our
debt of love to others, which is so Christlike as this. We are
to be to others--what Jesus would be, if He were in our place!
J. R. Miller, The Building of Character, 1894
