Charity part 4
Love can be an idea, right? A concept. That's why I believe the word "charity" is so important. Because charity is love in action. The love feast. Jesus prepared it for us, and all we have to do is sit down and eat it... and invite others to sit with us and eat with us. The ACT of sharing what God has given us. Being a witness means receiving and releasing the love of God. Sharing your experience. What you've seen and heard. Giving what you've got. Look at James 2:15-16, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" Basically, put your money where your mouth is. Don't just talk the talk. Walk the walk. Remember our key verse for this Rant series? Colossians 3:14, "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Love in action is the bond that ties us together. Seeing a need in someone and actually, physically meeting that need. And I'm tellng you, there's nothing worse than having an empty belly. Nothing worse than being out in the cold. Those are such basic human needs. Why do you think this question and answer with John the Baptist happened? "And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise" (Luke 3:10-11). Universal, basic human needs. If we can't help people with those things... how do we think we can help them with anything? So don't just flap your gums or slam your chicklets together. Actually do something. If you can meet someone's need... meet it. Don't over-extend yourself. Don't try to do things you can't do (or aren't supposed to do). Stay in your lane. Do what you can do. But DO what you can do. Don't just think about it, or talk about. Do it. Put your love into action. Build that connection with people. Build those relationships. Let love be that bond of perfectness. Look, we don't always have to agree on things... but we can always get along. I don't have to force my views and opinions on you, and I don't have to accept your views and opinions. As one of my old pastors was fond of saying, "Major on the majors and minor on the minors." Major on love. Because everything else is really pretty minor. If Jesus was talking about loving your enemies, I'm pretty sure that means we can love anybody. Simply by letting God love us, and then letting that love that is inside of us come out by knowing and believing that it is in there! By filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. That's why knowing what you have (the love of God), and believing that you have it is so vitally important. We don't need to prepare the meal. Jesus did that for us. All we have to do is sit down and eat. And invite anybody who is hungry to sit with us!