Charity – a Value of Choice

Christmas is a time for giving and sharing. We give gifts. We share meals, songs, and laughter with family and friends. And hopefully there is lots of love.

Or maybe you had a difficult Christmas and the exchanging of gifts and sharing with others was neither positive nor pleasant. You just lived through it trying to remain charitable (was that a fake smile on your face?)

In either case, was it charity that you demonstrated, or was it simply the fulfillment of an obligation? Is there a difference?

Charity Defined

From the list of 423 defined values, Charity means a kindly and lenient attitude; an activity or gift that benefits others.  This value is about being kind to others.

We demonstrate charity when we speak kindly to a stranger who appears lost asking them “Can I help?” or giving a couple of dollars to the homeless person on the street corner. It is our choice to display charity at a particular moment in time – or not.

But what about our behavior and attitude with family and friends? Is it charity we exhibit, or something else?

For some strange reason, kindness shown to strangers is called charity. But with family and friends we tend to simply refer to it as love (I think of how we signed Christmas cards “… Love, Robert & Lori”).

Charity vs. Love

On this subject, a commonly referenced Bible word is from 1 Corinthians 13:13 where it states:
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

This is from the original King James Version. However, just about all other translations use the word ‘love’ instead of charity.

Is there a difference? No. When we’re being formal (old-fashioned) we say charity. But when we’re casual and close, we use the term love.

What is clear is that abiding in love – or charity – is important. In fact, it just might be our greatest value.

Choosing to be Charitable

When we display charity we are showing that we’re thinking about others over ourselves.

We exhibit charity when we run into a burning building to save someone trapped inside, at the risk of our own safety.

We demonstrate charity when we choose to miss our favorite game and go visit a friend in the hospital.

We show charity when we skip lunch to help a co-worker finish an important assignment that’s due.

We even display charity when we give a gift at Christmas to someone who might be undeserving, who has not shown any charity to us, and who we even quite honestly don’t like.

Charity is a value of choice. And it’s ours to make.

Who has demonstrated the value of charity in your life?