Romans Part 6: RESPONSESample

Hi-De-Ho-Neighbor!

Romans 13:10 - Love Does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.

I got a text asking me to write another devotional (I think Logan does it in a group text, so we won’t say no). ☺ OK, thumbs up. As I was waiting for my verse, I texted my neighbor, who also received a request for one, and decided to send her the verses that I thought she “deserves” to write on… BAM!!! I received my email assigning my verses as I was texting her, and look what verse I got! I know she prays hard, but seriously? Guilty….I was NOT fulfilling the Law! (All in fun and she didn’t get the verses I thought she should either!) God’s Word always corrects and humbles me; that’s for sure!

Here in Romans 13, Paul tells us "Love does no wrong to a neighbor…" That may sound easy to do, but in total honesty, it is an enormous undertaking that would be impossible without God giving us the strength to do that. To do no wrong means EVERY word, EVERY action, EVERY attitude, and EVERY motive of our heart (that God alone can see) must be right. Oh boy…I flunked that lesson! -Well, who is our neighbor? It’s not only the “half-hidden” Wilson behind the wood fence (in the Dennis the Menace comic strip); your neighbor is that person God calls you to love despite your differences, opinions, or choices. They may be hard to love, and yet, they are the very ones God is calling you to show that kind of love to. In Luke 10, Jesus’ example to us is the story of the despised Samaritan, who had mercy on the Jewish man left for dead on the side of the road. He helped him, while the priest and Levite passed by, offering him no help. Jesus said the Samaritan was the neighbor of that man. And what kind of love is this? It is an “agape” love, an unconditional, sacrificial love. It is the Love that God is: Divine Love.

How is love the “fulfillment of the Law?” The Law, (the 10 commandments) can be summarized in two statements: “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these 2 commands”. In Matthew 22:37-40 God is saying, “Love Me, Love each other.” That is the fullness of the Law. But how can we do this? I know I fail miserably every day, but we need to keep our eyes on our Perfect example, Jesus Christ, who says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law and the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.”

He showed this Love by His sacrifice for those who refused it, those who mocked Him, those who were ungrateful, those who hated Him, for you and for me. It is “full-filling” and overflowing…and is meant to be shared. Jesus’ command to the church in John 13:34 is “Love each other, just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” We have Jesus and He will help us, so when the knock on our “door” comes, let’s open up and say, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?!”

-Touche Brunner