Our Unity Made Possible Through Charity

“Love (charity) never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13: 7 NLT

C.S. Lewis believed that four types of love were involved in human relationships. They are affection, friendship, sexuality, and charity.

Charity goes beyond the other forms of love. Charity loves because God Himself is Love.

If you are looking for an example of perfection in humanity you will be greatly disappointed. If you are looking for the traits you possess within yourself to determine your love for another, you will discover that you are self-centered. 

A self-centered person can never be truly happy. 

You may have discovered things about your spouse or friends that you find unlovable. I am not talking about moral and ethical defects. I am thinking more about personality, that which is unique to an individual, but not so lovable. What one person deems unimportant or even essential to their being, another person sees as nearly intolerable. We all have something about us that requires love and patience to be extended on the part of others. 

The wonderful thing about charity is that it can love the unlovely with utter sincerity and selflessness. It binds together the other types of love mentioned. Charity turns affection into a genuine display of warmth and feeling. Charity makes friendship an inseparable bond where joy is ignited in each other's presence. Charity exalts sex to its highest ecstasy because its focus is on the one so loved.

We can live without a lot of things, but we cannot live to the fullest without charity. Charity defines our marriages and keeps the spark of life flowing from our youth to our old age. Charity places the importance on the one so loved more than oneself. God increases charity in us as we seek to love Him and be loved by Him.

Pastor Mike

Serving each other in love and generosity is the truest form of charity.