True Charity – Episode 192
Check out the books A Few Minutes with God, The Truth Seekers Mystery Series and One More Child. Great for Christmas presents.
As the holiday season is upon us everywhere we look someone is looking for a donation for something and most of us give without a thought. I know it is easier for me to give a donation and that is why I like things such as the giving trees or angel trees where you are given a choice of buying a specific gift for someone in need. Many churches spearhead these types of donations and others offer sponsoring a family.
I remember one year a friend from church was so excited about her experience of sponsoring a family. She and another friend combined families so that they could give one special family in need a very merry Christmas and her experience was so touching. The next year she related that the family in need was not thankful, and did not want to interact with them at all but rather just have them drop off the packages with a request of leaving receipts for returns as well. These two experiences were very different and the latter left her with a very bad feeling about participating in the future.
I started thinking about this. And, I could see her point because her purpose was not for accolades but to show her children that there was more than buying a wrapping there were real families in need. The first family she continued to check in with and helped as needed, the second she did not.
But the more I thought about it I began wondering about the word charity and really its true meaning. To give and expect nothing back is a heroic virtue – and yet, we naturally want to feel that our efforts are appreciated. Yet, there are times that we will not be thanked and our efforts will feel that they are not appreciated and it is in those times that we can cry out to the Lord for His love and mercy – Read Psalm 86:17 this really shows us the love of God and how we can be the servant of the Lord… I’m going to read the first few verses but encourage you to read the entire chapter.
If we have God’s love who else do we need? True charity begins at home with our family. It begins with serving each other without a thought of a thank you or any appreciation. How often do we as parents make a meal without anyone saying they are enjoying it – or at other times there are lots of praise for our work. Either way, we do not boycott family dinner because of appreciation or now – we just do the work out of duty.
So too true charity that comes from our heart that we do not because we should or we have to but because of the love of Christ within us. True happiness, true faith come from this love that we can not contain, it is overflowing and it is wonderful because it is divinely inspired. We can write poems of praise to our God because of how often we forget to thank Him and praise Him each and every day for the wonderful blessings He has given to us.
Psalm 86 8-9 “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
There is no one like Almighty God! He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords – we have a wonderful season of Thanksgiving and Christmas to give all the glory and the honor and the praise to God and at the same time, we enjoy our lives with family and friends. What a wonderful life we have when we focus on the things that are not of this world. Not the glitter or the presents or the state of world affairs. These things take our mind off of the true charity that we should be focused on to our fellow brothers and sisters to those in our family that we love, our neighbors, and yes, even ourselves. We can give God all the glory, and remember that with His love, His grace, we will have the joy that surpasses all understanding!
Let’s pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for all you have given us in our lives, please teach us that true charity is putting You first and everything else will follow in. Give me an overflowing of your love and your joy so that I may minister to those in my life. And, I praise you and thank you for all you have done… I ask for the following prayers and petitions if it is your will and I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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