Romans 13
Have you ever borrowed money and then forgot to pay it back? When I do remember, it’s likely to be about 2:30 in the morning, and I bolt upright in bed: “Oh, no! I never paid Bob back for that money I borrowed to buy those Girl Scout cookies! How will I ever fall back to sleep knowing that Bob has probably had to get a second mortgage because of the $4.00 I never paid him back? No, wait, I bought his lunch the next day which was more than $4.00. Zzzzzzzzzzz…”
I love what Paul says in Romans 13:7. “Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Whether it’s an authority or a peer, we can owe people all kinds of things, and most of it is more important than dollars and cents. And all of it implies some sort of relationship or connection.
As Paul went on to describe in verse 8, there is one debt that we should never consider fully paid off; the debt of love. We should continue paying those installments in abundance and never tire of it.
Before 2:30 in the morning, think about the people that you might “owe.” Is there someone you’ve neglected to thank? A favor you can return? A power tool in your garage that needs to get back to your neighbor? Who is that you love that you haven’t shown it in a while? Don’t fall behind in those payments.