Charity
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Charity is one of the fundamental  pillars of Christianity. The word "charity"
comes from the french root "caritas", which means "Christian Love". Charity is
an act of love, which is the basic tenet of Christianity. 


God's Charity
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"God is love" [1-John 4:8] and God loves us so much that He allowed us to share
in His glory: "And all mine are  thine, and thine  are mine; and I am glorified
in them... And the glory which You gave Me I  have given them" [John 17:10,22].
He loves us so  much "that He gave  His only begotten  Son" for us [John 3:16].
This is the ultimate act of giving and of charity.


Charity and Love
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Jesus said: "love one another as I have loved you" [John 13:34]. Jesus loved us
unconditionally and gave  up  Himself to  every single  man, women, and  child.
Ultimately, our love to one another should  be similar -- unconditional. And if
we love we will give to others from what is given to us.


Teachings about Charity
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 o When we give we must be cheerful "So let each one give as he purposes in his
   heart,  not grudgingly or   of necessity; for  God  loves a cheerful giver."
   [2-Corinthians 9:7]. 

 o We should not resent those who seem to "want more": "And whoever compels you
   to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you,  and from him who
   wants to borrow from you do not turn away" [Matthew 5:41-42]. 

 o We should not "give to take"; we should not expect "earthly rewards" for our
   charity: "Take heed that you do not do your  charitable deeds before people,
   to  be seen by them.  Otherwise  you have  no  reward  from  your Father  in
   heaven." [Matthew 6:1]

 o Christianity teaches  us to  share our   wealth  and possession:  "Those who
   believed were of one heart  and one soul",  and no one said "that any of the
   things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common."  [Acts:
   4-32].

 o We should not give out of abundance, but out of  our own needs: "Truly I say
   to you that this poor widow has put in more  than all; for  all these out of
   their  abundance have put in  offerings for God, but  she out of her poverty
   has put in all the livelihood that she had." [Luke 21:3-4].

 o We should give without being asked to give:  "and beyond their ability, they
   were freely willing,  imploring us with much urgency  that we  would receive
   the  gift    and  the  fellowship   of  the   ministering  to  the  saints."
   [2-Corinthians 8:3-4].

 o We should not feel pride because of our gifts. We should  be humble when we
   give and not  boast about it,  even in our own  minds. The ultimate is what
   was described figuratively in Matthew 6:3 -- "But  when you do a charitable
   deed,  do not let your  left  hand know  what  your right  hand is doing,".

 o Charity is the fullfilment of  all commandments "Good  Teacher, what shall I
   do that I  may inherit eternal  life? ... One  thing you lack:  Go your way,
   sell whatever you have and give  to the poor, and you  will have treasure in
   heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." [Mark 10:17-21].

 o Charity without love is  no good: "And though I  bestow all my goods to feed
   the  poor, and though I  give my body  to be burned, but  have  not love, it
   profits me nothing." [1 Corinthians 13:3]


Discussion-provoking Questions:
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 o Is wealth a bad thing? Is striving to have a good life a bad thing?
 o Does the early church of the Apostles teach "communism"?
 o Should we give to the poor unconditionally? 
 o What about people who will use our donations to buy (say) drugs?
 o How could the left hand not know what the right hand does [Matthew 6:3] ? 
 o How do we reconcile [Matthew 6:3] with "tax deductions for charity"?
 o Is giving from one's time and effort to the needy considered charity?