In the preceding verses (Rom. 13:1-7) Paul refers to what we owe the civil authorities (obedience, respect, paying taxes etc.). He stresses that this debt should also be paid in a spirit of love. Of course, such a debt is easily understood, all the more so because if we neglect it, we are penalized by law.
On this basis, Paul goes on to speak of another debt, one that’s a bit more difficult to understand. It is our debt, following the legacy left to us by Jesus, towards every neighbour. It is mutual love in its various expressions: generosity, thoughtfulness, trust, mutual esteem, sincerity and so on (see Rom. 12, 9-12).
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
This Word of Life underlines two things for us:
In the first place, love is presented as a debt, that is, as something we cannot be indifferent to, something we cannot put off. It is something pressing on us, spurring us on, leaving us no peace until it is satisfied. It’s like saying that mutual love is not an ‘extra’, the result of our generosity, whose limits we can set aside without incurring any penalty. This Word implies that we are called by Jesus to be instruments of his love in the world and urges us to put mutual love into practice on pain of betraying our very dignity as Christians.
Secondly, this Word of Life tells us that mutual love is the moving force, the spirit and the goal of all the commandments. It follows that, if we want do the will of God well, we cannot rest content with a cold and legalistic observance of God’s commandments. We must always keep in mind the goal that God sets before us through the commandments. So, for example, to live well the commandment not to steal, we cannot limit ourselves to not stealing, but we ought to be seriously committed to eliminating social injustice. Only like this will we demonstrate love for our neighbour.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
How should we live the Word of Life for this month?
The subject of love for our neighbour, which it puts before us once again, has infinite shades of meaning. Here we highlight one which the words of the text appear to stress in a particular way. If, as Paul says, mutual love is a debt, then we need to be the first to love as Jesus was with us. Our love, therefore, will take the initiative, it will not hold back or delay.
Let’s do this in the coming month, then. Let’s try to be the first to love each person we meet, we speak to on the phone, we write to or we live with. And let’s love in a concrete way, seeking to understand the other, foresee the other’s needs, be patient, trustful, persevering, generous.
We will notice that that our spiritual life takes a qualitative leap, to say nothing of the joy that will fill our hearts.
Chiara Lubich
(First published in September 1990)
