Love is presented as a debt that we owe to others every day. No matter how much we pay on this debt in a single day, when we awaken the next morning, we owe just as much as we did before. It is a never-ending obligation, a constant responsibility that binds us to act in love continually. This debt of love is a multifaceted quality, encompassing many fine attributes, and serves as the glue that ties these qualities together, enabling their proper use for the benefit of others.

In the midst of a world marked by violence and turmoil, the enduring need for love stands paramount. Love, as a concept, is often misunderstood and misused, yet its supreme importance to life is undeniable. Within this context, love emerges not merely as a feeling or preference, but as a perpetual obligation—a debt we owe to every person, every day. This debt of love, unlike taxes or tribute paid to governments which can be settled periodically, remains ever-present. As soon as one act of love is performed, the obligation renews itself with the next person in need who crosses our path. There is no final payment; love never ends and is always useful. It is a duty that can never truly be paid in full, for each day restores the debt anew, compelling us to extend help and kindness whenever the opportunity arises. This principle of love as a constant debt underscores its role as the sum of all duties. It is the driving force behind every action, surpassing the temporary nature of other gifts or powers. While taxes or tribute to human authorities can be cleared, the debt of love persists, binding us to a continuous responsibility towards others. It is through this unending obligation that love reveals its permanence and supremacy, motivating us in ways that mere law or coercion cannot, ensuring that our actions align with the greater good.

In Romans 13:8-10, Paul places love within the framework of law, presenting it as the fulfillment of all obligations. He elevates love above other virtues, portraying it as the bond that unites and sustains a community. Love, in this sense, is a debt we owe to one another, a responsibility to act in ways that prevent division and maintain unity. Without this binding quality of agape, groups naturally disintegrate due to friction and self-interest. Love requires each individual to restrain personal impulses and act in a manner that upholds the collective good, embodying the supreme virtue that mirrors God's nature.

We come under obligation when rendered a service, producing indebtedness to the one who performed it. True obligation is a deep conviction that we owe someone something. This sense is very important to the proper understanding of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Because God is holy, we are under obligation to be holy ourselves. We owe our lives to Christ because He redeemed us. A sense of obligation will produce a quality of conduct that God will highly esteem. We have nothing with which to pay this debt and stand before Him in penniless insolvency. If He will forgive, we must let Him forgive it all on His terms. This puts us under obligation to the One who pays our otherwise unpayable debt. We are obligated to love Him, and if the recognition is strong, we are virtually driven to do so due to grasping the enormity of what we have been saved from. The person who knows he has been forgiven for many egregious sins feels more strongly obliged to the One who paid his debt. Those most conscious of forgiveness will be the most fruitful of love. The depth, fervor, and growth of our Christianity depend perhaps more largely on the clarity of our consciousness of this contrast than on anything else. Paul was keenly aware of the enormity of what he had been forgiven and responded with zealous work largely out of a deep sense of grateful obligation. It is the highest and holiest of paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be forever paying it. We are admonished to remember the whole package of His connection to the Old Testament Passover, His life of sacrificial service, His violent bloody death for the remission of the sins of mankind, the sacrificial connection to the New Covenant, and who He was, our sinless Creator. This act becomes the foundation of all loving relationships possible to us with God and His Family because it provides us reason to hope that our lives are not spent in vain. It motivates us to do what we failed to do that put us into debt in the first place to love. To eat the bread or drink the wine in an unworthy manner is to treat His sacrifice with casual, disrespectful ingratitude. Passover is intended by God to teach us these things so that we begin each year by being turned from where we have deviated in our understanding and application and jump started once again in the right direction with the right attitude. Let us cry out to God for a better understanding of what we are and what Christ did so we can be filled with an awesome sense of our indebtedness and obligation.