Charity part 4
Charity. Love in action. The act of love. Not just talking about how much you love someone, but laying your life down for them. Not just saying, "I'll pray for you," (and I have absolutely NOTHING against praying for people) but seeing a need and meeting that need. Look at what John the Baptist said in Luke chapter 3:11 when the people asked him what they should do, "He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meet, let him do likewise." If someone's cold, and you have the ability to meet that need... meet it. If someone's hungry, and you can feed them... do it. That's what love is. That's what CHARITY is. Just simply doing what you can do, with what you've got, where you're at. I think sometimes we almost get intimidated by the idea of love. Like it's almost too big for us. Sometimes I think we're afraid to love, because we're afraid to lose what we've got, but sometimes I think we're afraid to love because we think we're not good enough to love. At least that's what I always think. No matter what I do, I always worry that it's not enough. Like I not only could do more, but I should do more. And I know that this is probably a form of self-condemnation, and I have on pretty good authority that I AM doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but it doesn't often feel like that. In fact, I find that many times the most giving people seem to be the most unhappy. Because a lot of times you give without getting anything back. You give, and give, and give, and nobody seems to appreciate it. But that's when we absolutely need to understand the flow of love. We don't give it in order to get it. We give it because we have it. Even if we love and never "get anything out of it" from people... we started with everything we needed in the first place. So be encouraged. Your love--your CHARITY--is not in vain. The Word of the Lord (which is Jesus, which is love) does not ever fall void. It ALWAYS accomplishes what it sets out to do. That's the key though: understanding what love has set out to do. And what love HASN'T set out to do. Love has set out to help people. To meet the human condition and improve the human condition. Abundant life, right? Abundance. But what love hasn't set out to do is get you something in return. Love is GIVING, not getting. So when we understand the selfless nature of love, then it doesn't matter if it seems like love is received or not. Love doesn't HAVE a motive... love IS the motive. I have a picture on my phone that sums it up. It says, "Love made me do it." THAT'S why we do what we do. Not because we're tying to GET something, but because we already HAVE something. And when we give away what we've got, what we find is that we don't lose it... we share it. We experience it and enjoy it by giving it to those that need it. Remember the vine and the branches? We don't produce the fruit of the Spirit (which is love). The vine, Jesus, produces it. He is the source because He IS love. All we do, as the branches of the Tree of Life, is bear the fruit. Carry it to those who need it. What good is fruit is nobody eats it? What good is faith without works? What good is "love" if it isn't charity?