Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. ~ Romans 13:8-10
Do you think of love when you think of law? And what does it mean to fulfil the law?
To fulfil something is to bring it to completion.
So the law is made complete by love.
That's upside down and backwards from the way we usually think about the law, but really, it shouldn't be.
From the time we are five years old, we've been given laws of love. Don't cross the street without looking both ways. Don't eat too much sugar. Don't put anything up your nose. Don't pull your sister's hair.
We give those laws to preschoolers out of love for them and out of love for those in their lives (particularly sisters with sensitive scalps).
We graduate to other laws that show our love of neighbor and self.
To love Jesus loved isn't an emotion. It's a practice. It's a behavior. It's deliberate and active and often self-sacrificing.
When laws are fulfilled through our intentional acts of service, it is easier to see the love we bear for each other, and for ourselves.
It's easier to see that love is both the starting and the ending point of how our relationships are meant to be.
Teach me to love deeply, intentionally, actively, deliberately, even when it means sacrficing my own desires. Amen