Romans—Passionate Christian Theology
Young couples want now what their parents have spent years in building and acquiring through hard work and saving for the future. They run up debt beyond their ability to pay then spend harder years working off that debt by working so many hours in the day that their relationship suffers. We see it all the time. Most divorces occur as a result of financial crisis.
When we are in, seemingly, hopeless debt we have put ourselves in a self-made prison for we are not free to move about, to give as we would like, until the debt is paid off and we are free from owing. Our work becomes meaningless, as only a way to pay off debt, forgetting, or at least, losing sight of why we work. Instead of making a difference, being a difference and feeling we are contributing to our world, we are imprisoned by our own mistakes of “wanting it all and wanting it now”.
We feel like we have nothing to give because we are so stretched in our finances. We cannot give generously, as the Bible tells us to be, we think. We resign ourselves to thinking we cannot possibly afford to give back to God with our tithes. When our giving suffers, we suffer. We were created to give.
Worst of all, we lose our focus on the most important—love. Our love for God and for each other becomes foggy at best in the midst of financial crisis. Our bills are on our minds all day long and into the night. But there is hope! Look up, turn to Christ in that crisis and get help to climb out, to see the Light of day! Get help from a Christian financial person who can help you before it’s too late.
As you pay down the debt of wanting more, you will, by God’s power living in you, begin to build a huge debt of love for God and for each other. You will understand the difference between wants and needs. Your marriage can be saved. Other relationships can be saved. The tension leaves our faces. Our health is restored. Most of all, our relationship with God grows stronger because we are free to serve, to give, to move when He saves move because we are not bound by worldly debt.
“Don’t run up debts”, says Paul to the Romans. Just those few words have hit me hard this morning. In this season of wanting to do as much for your loved ones as possible, don’t run up debts that will imprison you until next season. Run up, instead, your love for them. The gift of your time, loving on them, is what they will remember most.
“Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other ‘don’t‘ you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is LOVE.” Romans 13, The Message
Dear Heavenly Father, We repent of the prisons of debt we put ourselves into in the past. We cry out for wisdom, insight and understanding with more focus on our love for You so we will not let that happen to us again. Even when medical issues run up our debt, help us to have reserve for it so we can be free to serve You wherever You want us to be and do. Thank you for helping us to see wants and needs in a different Light this morning. Be our guide for every step in this journey to be free. We love you, Lord with all that is within us. We are so glad You do not judge us by the amount of things we have but by the love we show. In Jesus Name, Amen
