Charity part 3
It's all about love. We ARE loved, so we CAN love. It flows from the God who IS love, THROUGH us. That's how we partake of the Divine Nature. That's how we enjoy the gift of God--which is eternal life. We don't TRY to live Jesus' life (that's impossible. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus), we simply let Him live His own life in and through and as us. That's what it means to present our bodies as living sacrifices. My hands are His hands. Whatever He wants to do, He does it in me, and through me, and as me. My feet are His feet. That's why I don't have to try (and fail) to follow in His foot steps. I can just let Him make His own foot steps with my feet. Look at 1 Timothy 1:5, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." I like it even better in the Message Bible, "The whole point of what we're urging is simply love--love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God." And here's what hit me: A life open to God is a life open to love! I think so many times we're afraid of love. Afraid TO love. Because we think if we give what we've got and don't get anything back... then we won't have anything. But perfect love casts out fear. And what is perfect love? God's love for us. Jesus laying down His life on the cross. God Himself giving His life FOR us, and giving His life TO us. Loving us... so that we can love each other. And don't get me wrong, there's a lot to be said for the receiving part of the Kingdom economy. There is no better feeling than knowing (and believing) that you are loved and accepted. But that's not the be-all end-all. Because love is giving. And Jesus said it is more blessed to GIVE than to receive. You have to receive first, so that you have something to give, but you aren't receiving just for the sake of receiving. And that's what CHARITY is all about. Love in action. Not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. Putting your money where your mouth is, if I can say it that way. Taking what we've been given... and sharing it. And to me, the mindset that I'm SHARING what I've got is pretty powerful. Because when I'm sharing something with you... we BOTH get to experience it. We BOTH get to enjoy it. I'm convinced that the best way to "feel" loved is to love someone else. I think the ACT of charity is what makes love real. That's why faith without works is dead. Because we WALK by faith. We ACT by faith. Faith propels us forward. And so does love. We love because we are loved. Love almost FORCES us to love, because we are filled to overflowing. Because we couldn't keep it inside, keep it to ourselves, if we tried. It's too good to keep to ourselves. Too good--and too BIG--to keep inside!