Over twenty years ago, a young couple lived with us for a few weeks. The man spoke Spanish and knew little English, and his wife interpreted for him.
One night after supper, we discussed I Corinthians 13. This man stated how well the word 'charity' expressed the meaning of love. For this young couple, with a sick baby and two young children, 'charity' had become the only thing on which they could rely. He didn't have regular work, and they could not afford a home of their own.That was a growing and stretching time for myself and my family. Lessons learned then I can now carry into my writing. His words sunk deep into my heart to be used as catalysts for future events and lessons.
I could compose beautiful stories with great technical ability, but if I do not have a desire to do good to my readers, then I'm just planting useless words and making noises in the readers imaginations.
If I write great nonfiction which reveals my superior intellect (or not) and great faith and do not have goodwill toward my readers, then I am nothing and my words are meaningless.
And if I give away all my work to charitable organizations so that others can benefit financially by it, or if I am martyred for my great faith and profound words, as occurred in history, and do not seek to do good to others, I gain no profit from it.
Charity does not come from things that bring us accolades. Charity is about character, about how we treat other people, about dying to ourselves.
That young couple understood what receiving help from others was like. They could see the difference between when someone was just doing charitable works (i.e. going through the motions of good works in order to get a 'badge' of recognition) and when someone expressed true charity describe in I Corinthians 13:4-8.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 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."Lord, help me to learn to love as You do.
