Musings on Faith #28
Charity

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done (Proverbs 19:17, NIV)." This is a recurrent theme throughout the Scriptures, in both the Old and New Testaments. It is what we commonly call charity. In the King James translation, 1st Corinthians 13:13 reads "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." In the New International Version, the word "charity" is translated at "love". I find great significance in this, in that charity, as we understand that word today, is meaningless in the eyes of God if the act is not done in love - the love of God in us. Why else would Paul say "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver (2nd Corinthians 9:7, KJV)."

I can recall raising funds for worthy causes on many occasions in my younger days, and in that process I learned that many times the

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most grudging givers were those who had the most to give, and that those who generally gave the most, relative to their means, were individuals possessing far less in material terms than their grudging counter-parts. Who then received the greater blessing? According to God's Word, it was clearly the later, for that person gave willingly, cheerfully, and in love. "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them (Hebrews 6:10, NIV)."
 
Remember that Christ said "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40, NIV)." Give from the heart, freely and cheerfully, and the Lord will abundantly bless you

Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard

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