Share what we have with those in need.

Romans 15:27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem first circulated the gospel in the Gentile world. Paul said the Gentiles were indebted to the Jews in Jerusalem because they shared their spiritual things with them. It seems that need is at the center of this conversation. The Gentiles were in need of spiritual things. Paul described their spiritual need in this way to the Ephesians in 4:17-19. “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” The Gentiles needed the good news of the gospel. God met their need by sending His Son through the Jews and then sent them out to the world with the promise that He would be with them to the end of the age. That ministry continues to this day. The Jews in Jerusalem were in need of material things. Earlier in this letter Paul wrote, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another” (13:8). Love, when it sees a need, leaps into action to meet it. In the case of the poor in Jerusalem, the Gentile believers were aware of their need for material supply and were indebted to them. In return for their spiritual needs being met, the Gentiles were indebted to meet the needs of the saints in Jerusalem. What an encouragement this is for us who live to love with Jesus. God met our spiritual needs by giving us His Son. We are indebted to Him. Since He now lives in His body on earth, when we see a need, whether spiritual or material, we are indebted to Him and should share what God gives us with them. When we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to share what God has given us to meet their needs, whether spiritual or material. Sometimes we don’t have what is needed. When that’s the case, we aren’t meant to be the supplier. Other times, the need is obvious and we have what they need, such as in the case Paul mentioned in this verse. May God glorify His name by inspiring us to love with Jesus. Let us be thankful for His abundant supply of grace through Christ, and may we be quick to share with others as we see their need.