Negatives become a positive
Romans 13:8-10
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
I love how the laws of “you shall not this” and “you shall not that” are summed up and turned into one simple and positive statement: Love your neighbour as yourself. The negative is turned into a positive; the don’ts are turned into a proactive DO! Love is the fulfilment of the law.
I find this is especially helpful to remember when someone has done something unkind to me and I am tempted to try and get back at them in some way. Love does no harm to a neighbour. I can choose to just let it go, and let grace and forgiveness cover whatever has been done to me.
I actually found this hardest when my kids were younger and would come home from school upset because someone had been mean to them. My natural human response was to think of some way to get back at the kid who had hurt my kid. But thankfully I knew a better way – God’s way of love and forgiveness and was able to teach that to my kids as well.
If everyone lived like that, imagine how different this world would be.
God, give us the grace to be different and to love like You love.
Written by Shelley Witt