Charity: Love in Action

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Matthew 25:40

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,^[f] you did it to me.’

(ESV)

Love is a verb, a word of action.  If we claim to love someone but do not follow through with acts of love towards that person, we are as useless as a noisy gong or cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1).  The most visible signs of love in action are acts of charity offered to those in need.  Matthew 25:40 tells us that these acts of charity towards those in need are the same as offering charity to God himself.  However, as we prepare to observe Good Friday and Easter this weekend, we must remember the greatest showing of charitable love in history, God himself offering the life of His only Son for the sins of humanity (Romans 5:8). 

During this Easter season it is easy to focus on the celebration and lose sight of the demonstration of love it represents.  As a child growing up in the Church, I remember singing the song Jesus loves me.  In the song it says we know Jesus loves us because the bible says He does.  While it is important to know this truth, is it vital as believers in Jesus as Savior to know this truth in our hearts.  Let us therefore take a moment to reflect on the extent to which God loves us. 

1)      God threw Adam out of the garden instead of killing him (Genesis 3:23) – The penalty for eating the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden was death (Genesis 2:16-17).  However, instead of killing Adam and Eve on the spot, God allows them to live with the promise of a savior (Genesis 3:15).  The hindsight we have today reveals that this was no ordinary Savior but God’s Son, God himself. 

2)      God’s love is love with sacrifice (John 15:13) – Charity involves sacrifice for it is one giving of what they worked for or love out of concern for another’s needs.  The charity of God is giving Jesus, His beloved Son out of love for humanity that rebelled against Him.  Instead of earning the love of God, we already have it for God cannot love us more than He already does.  God has already made the sacrifice and offered the gift, but will we accept or reject God’s sacrificial gift. 

3)      God never leaves us alone, even in death (Psalm 23:4) – After ascending to heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait for the empowering of the Holy Spirit before starting to minister (Acts 1:4-5).  This is the same Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus at His baptism (Luke 3:22).  The Holy Spirit is not some ghost or spirit but part of the trinity and thus, as much God as Jesus Himself.  It is the source of power and direction in the life of a believer as it was for Jesus during his earthly ministry.  Jesus knew he was physically leaving the Disciples behind and that they needed power and direction from God in the person of the Holy Spirit. 

4)      God’s love is provisional (Philippians 4:19) – God promises to meet our needs, and not all our wants.  Anyone that has seen a parent in a store telling a child no to something they want understands that a good parent does not grant every wish of the child.  However, that same parent does not leave the store without insuring they have plenty of food to feed their children.  God’s greatest provision, however, is His provision of eternal life for fallen humanity. 

5)      God’s love is full of grace and forgiveness (Ephesians 2:8) – While working as a door greeter at my church last week, a woman came in wearing a t-shirt proclaiming God forgave my abortion.  The subject of abortion is a politically heated issue that can unfortunately lead to judgmentalism from both sides of the issue.  God however out of his love for us forgives the sinner while condemning the sin.  God values life and supports any view supporting life (Psalm 139:14), but also died for sinners that they might have reconciliation to God (Romans 5:8).  As each of us strives to live a godly life we too must learn to condemn sin but love sinners, pointing them to Christ.

Perhaps you are reading this, and God is convicting you of the sin in your life.  The good news is that God always stands ready to forgive sin and is only waiting for us to ask (1 John 1:9).  For those feeling this conviction in their lives, I urge you to pray with me now,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

My prayer is that everyone reading this would model the charitable love of Christ in their lives.  The Body of Christ must model the graceful love of Christ through pointing others to Christ by how we live and what we say so they too have an opportunity to receive salvation from their sins.  Next Wednesday we will resume our study in the Gospel of Mark in Mark 3:22-30.