Article July 5, 1999 Issue

THE DEBT THAT IS A JOY TO PAY

Beulah M. Roegge

Humanity has a common debt. It's stated in this Scriptural injunction: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another" (Rom. 13:8). To me this implies that the mere exchange of things, or even money itself, cannot fully repay this debt of love. The Bible verse continues, "For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."

What a joy it is to fulfill this law and pay this debt. To do so involves turning to God, who is Love, as well as the source of all genuine human love. Manipulating another's feelings for one's own self-interest—though this is sometimes called love—does not reduce the debt. Nor does merely fulfilling one's duties cancel one's obligations to another. I learned the latter once when I felt I owed a family member a daily telephone call. After a while the calls became quite unsatisfactory. She would utter complaints, and I would listen with feigned patience. There was a lingering dismay after each call. I'm sure we both were praying about this travesty on love, because it wasn't too long before the telephone conversations became a happy exchange of affection, without a residue of regret.

Whatever would interfere with freely loving one another will eventually be proved illegitimate. It is normal and natural to love. Even generations of instilled hatred will ultimately yield to the flow of God's love, reflected by each individual.

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