On Charity

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

"Charity" in the passages above are agape in the Greek. Of course, it means "love" in English but it's a special type of love. Charity is "giving"but is better expressed as "goodwill". Hence, agape-type love which is charitable is willingness to do good. What is "goodness"? Jesus defined "goodness" when he said, "Only God is good." (Mark 10:18). Being charitable is being Christ-like. What did God do? He gave his only begotten Son. (John 3:16). Why" "Because He so agapao the world." Because He Is good, God was willing to share his "goodness" with us by dying for us. That is the ultimate "goodness", perfect love, and the greatest charity!

Because God Himself died for us, he paid our debt because He loved us so much. God was forced to die but willingly bore his own Cross. You see, charity is always coming back to a person's will. It was God's will that Jesus die for our sins, and in gratitude, charity is an expression of our willingness to thank God.

For instance, Isaac was willing to die because God tested him and Abraham. His willingness to die was credited to Abraham as faith (Romans 4:3). Abraham was being charitable to God by his willingness to sacrifice his "only son". Isaac was willing to sacrifice himself for the sins of others. Abraham was symbolic of God the Father, and Isaac God the Son. God is agape! We are to mimic Him!

In the passages above, there is a list of criteria for how we are to love. Not how we think of the emotion of love but the work of love. Love doesn't come easy because it requires us to put aside hatred. With original sin, we are inclined to hate one another rather than to love one another. It takes hard work to overcome the inclinations which we inherited from Adam. That "work" is called obedience, and it is the evidence of our new birth. Christians move from unwillingness to obey to willingness to please God. Let's list those things which describe charity:

• Is long-suffering (patient and enduring)
• Is kindness
• Is without envy (jealousy)
• Is not intimidating others
• Is without pride (meekness)
• Is behaving Christ-like
• Is not selfish (generous)
• Is not ready to attack (considerate)
• Is having even no thoughts of sinning (some sins are against oneself, such as fornication, but most are against others).
• Is not taking pleasure in sinning
• Is having pleasure in truth
• Is bearing what the world puts on us
• Is believing in all of the Word of God, and accepting others as truthful
• Is having hope that God's will be done
• Is enduring persecution and dissension

My charity lacks in some areas. Sometimes I intimidate by being too forceful. I certainly am not meek. That goes along with me being an ideological and doctrinal bully. My thoughts are often not like those which Jesus would have. When I ask myself the question, "What would Jesus do?' The answer is often, "not what I am doing!"

As the bully, I often attack others. Don't get me wrong. I think I am attacking to support God, but oftentimes come to realize, it's protecting the box which I have confined God to! I defend my own beliefs - the doctrine of Larry.

I sometimes take delight in sin. Face it, we all do! We sin because it's pleasurable. I enjoy pleasure as readily as the next. Pleasure can be obtained in the things of God. Those who are born-again seek pleasure, not in the world, but in the will of God. There is a certain satisfaction in making it through the day with no gross sins, then sit back with pride to think how righteous I have been today! It seems that neither am I meek.

Willful sinning is thinking about the pleasure offered before performing the sin. That is doing our own will in spite of God's will. We all consider before sinning: is the pleasure worth offending God? When as we go ahead and sin, our answer is "yes". You see, having thoughts of sin leads to actual sinning. None are without sin. We all consider sin but we should not.

When I prefer my will to God's, I certainly am not hoping that God's will be done! We often delude ourselves into thinking we are doing God's will when we are doing our own. That is hypocrisy, and crediting to God iniquity.

As far as enduring the things of the world, I do so but not willfully. It's merely because I am weak. In all honesty, sometimes I want to destroy evil people although I am myself evil! I don't have to murder to kill because hatred is murder (1 John 3:15). As soon as I think, at least I'm not a murderer, then God responds, "What about Hillary? You have murdered her!"

So as I sit here satisfied with my Daily Thought, I self-evaluate and find that I come up short! I seem to have little agape, and as such have not charity. I do take pleasure in truth, and a few others, but they are bread-crumbs. I am not satisfied with my own charity. All those "good" things that I do, are as filthy rags to God if I have not charity (Isaiah 64:6).

Do I waste my time with long-suffering and kindness, and so forth which I have? Not if I am willing to love? My will is to be in harmony with God's will. I take solace in that my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. (Mark 14:38). God's will is that as the spirit is strengthened, the flesh is weakened.  We sacrifice our own will in exchange for God's will. 

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Charity is more than giving love to others. It too is loving God. The former is a demonstration of the latter.  The new birth signifies a changed person. We trade our will for God's. The list above is God's will. He calls it agape (love). It is the Greatest Commandment, and that list tells us how to recognize it.

Right now, I feel evil. I should! If we fail to see our own iniquity, we are reprobate. I like to think of myself as spiritually perfect but only death and glorification will get me there. Until then, I must fight my own will!