Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8).

This is one of the scriptures Lorraine Hill has given us to study today and I think it is the perfect one to sum up the lesson.  Jesus has saved us from sin and death.  Through His sacrifice we are rescued, ransomed, and redeemed.  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).  The enormity of this sacrifice gets glossed over in our everyday lives.  We forget.  But think of the debt of gratitude you would feel toward someone who saved your life…think how you would feel about the person who saved your life if you had a life saving organ transplant or if you were revived from Cardiac Arrest by the an off-duty firefighter…you would think of it every day!  You would want to do something, anything to repay the person (though you could never repay that kind of debt).  You would live differently.  You might think that you had been spared for a purpose. Jesus saved us; he spared us for His purpose: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” ( John 15:12-13). 

Lorraine Hill challenges us to think of someone in our lives that we struggle to love and make a concerted effort this week to show them love.  How do we show them love?  Think of how Jesus loves us – sacrificially.  He asks us to do the same.  I love the old trick of putting your name into a scripture.  Try it with this one.  This week, let it be said of you: [your name] is patient, [your name] is kind. [She] does not envy, [she] does not boast, [she] is not proud. [Your name] does not dishonor others, [she] is not self-seeking, [she] is not easily angered, [she] keeps no record of wrongs. [Your name] does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [She] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Cor 13:4-7).  Try to honor the sacrifice that Jesus made for you by “paying it forward” to another person whom He loves.  “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me” (Matt 25:40).

JustaGirl…just like you!