Charity – Divine Love

We can give all we have to feed the poor, and give our body as a sacrifice to be burned, but if charity is not motivating the action, it will profit us nothing.  Charity suffereth long, is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not it’s self, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not it’s own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth.   Charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  Charity never faileth: but where there are prophecies, they shall fail; where there are tongues, they shall cease; where there is knowledge, it shall vanish.  Even if a person had the gift of prophecy, understood all mysteries, had all knowledge and had all faith that one could remove mountains but lack charity… that person’s actions would be nothing before God.  

Now if faith, hope charity abide with thee… the greatest of these is charity.  

So, what is charity?  How does it affect us… what is it’s effect?  Our words of love could be as words of angels… but if they contain not charity, they are just an instrument of sound.  Our words can be words used in a correct way and sound beautiful, but still have no depth and carry no weight with others because they know there will be no action to back it up.  

Charity is the love that helps us look above and beyond the faults and failures of others.  A love for their soul.  A love for the person as they are in their imperfection and unpolished self which is part of something so much greater than anything this earth and it’s humanness can achieve.  It is easy for our humanness to sway us and affect the way our emotions react to another, but it is charity that will temper, settle, clarify and open our eyes to the goodness and potential of the person causing the reaction.  

Charity can cause us to be perceived as a very loveable person, admired and looked up to.  Often we are approached by others reacting to us in a way that creates a primal, sensual emotion within.  But charity will not let us become puffed up in that, will not let us behave unseemly in reaction to that. The effect of charity will be humility.  

Humility before God and man is the effect of unreservedly devoting ourselves to God.  Our profession of devotion through the traditional ritual of baptism, is a symbolic act of burying our old natural, sensual human nature and taking on this new devotion and way of life.  The old and new natures will not live within in harmony, but will constantly remind us of our weakness and fallibility.

Spiritual love like natural love can not be hidden.  It will drive us and lead us to indulge ourselves, look upon the object or action of our affection.  Our love will take us through experiences  and help us endure when nothing else will.  Our love will drive us, enable us, to go further than our belief in something contrary to our love.  If we love what we believe to be true… then we will be living in harmony with our love, belief and our heart will lead us into a deeper understanding of what it is we love..  

In 1 Peter 1:16,  Be ye holy for I am holy.    This passage is in reference to Lev. 20:7,  Sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy for I am the Lord your God.  Keep my statutes and do them.  I am the lord which sanctify you.  Sanctification is the separation of our natural humanness from our actions and motives driven by our love.  Therefore, our life will show forth more of the authentic nature and holiness of our Lord and Savior.  The result of that will be the fruit of the Spirit springing forth in abundance as we go out into the world and mingle with people.  The abundance of fruit, our actions, will be evidence to others of the Holy Spirit dwelling within.  

Prov. 10:12  Hatred stirreth up strife: but love covereth all sin.  

A favorite saying that may explain a little about charity in our life and the love that motivates us.  “We glorify God in our body by our actions:  We glorify God in our spirit by our reactions.”  What are our reactions to others.  Is it kindness, is it loving? This is one place where humanness comes through the most.  Reactions to some of the things people do is the hardest test of love for God. May the Divine Love of God guide in these reactions.