A Debt We Owe
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesToday’s Montana Street bulletin article comes by way of the Bulletin Digest. The article emphasizes the debt we have to our brethren and fellowman because of the great love our God and Savior had for us (John 3:16-17-NKJV; Romans 5:6-10-NKJV).
Among the numerous responsibilities in life, the one which demands the attention of every Christian, is the responsibility to love one another. Jesus commanded it (John 13:34-NKJV) and God said it would become an identifying trait of a Christian (John 13:35-NKJV).
Brother Marshall Keeble (hear sermons) used to tell the following story:
“I like these new fangled inventions. One I especially like is the puncture-proof tire. If you’re driving along on ordinary tires, and you hit a nail and it goes through the tire — “whiss” — you lose all the air and you got a flat tire. But the new puncture-proof tire is different. If you run over a nail, some stuff inside the tire runs around and stops up the hole and the air stays in the tire. Similarly, an ordinary heart may be filled with love, but when someone does something to puncture that heart, all the love runs out and hatred and hard feelings take its place. But a puncture-proof heart is different; it is filled with the spirit of Christ, and if someone through his words or actions punctures that heart, immediately the hole is stopped up tight and love stays in.”
The resiliency Brother Keeble describes in the above story, is important when traveling down the road of life. Paul said love is demonstrated by long-suffering, kindness, a lack of envy or pride, good behavior, unselfishness, and a slowness to be provoked to take account of evil. It rejoices in truth, assuming the best until forced to think otherwise (1 Corinthians 13:4-7-NIV).
Brothers and sisters are forever indebted to one another to treat each other kindly and tenderly (Ephesians 4:31-32-NKJV). Claiming to love God while failing to regularly pay on the debt of love we owe to one another, is a denial of our commitment to the Author of love (cf. 1 John 3:24-NKJV; 1 John 4:7-21-NKJV).
Diligence is required in brotherly kindness and love to avoid being characterized by blindness and jeopardizing our salvation (2 Peter 1:5-10-NKJV). Mature love is evidence of genuine conversion (1 John 3:14-NKJV). John states the impossibility of loving God while hating a brother (1 John 4:20-NKJV).
Brethren, let’s make sure we do not miss any payments on the debt we owe one another, remembering that good credit, if lost, is difficult to regain!