“Right Charity”
Matthew 6:1-4
“…that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” [Matthew 6:4]
“Charity” in the Bible in the original Greek is agape. The newer Bibles translate agape to “love.” The word, agape, was coined for the New Testament and describes a unique supernatural love from God. “Charity” is therefore a good translation because it identifies this unique kind of love.
If you have an older King James Bible, you will find that “charity” is used as a translation for agape. This provides the English reader with a heads-up when God’s unconditional love is used. It is a plus because our English word “love” has different meanings, i.e., “I love chocolate” is an entirely different love than “God so loved the world…”
Charity imparts the meaning of sacrificial giving, which is the foundation of agape. The best that we can do on the human level is “brotherly love,” which is phileo in the Greek. And while phileo is a virtuous love, it is not in the realm of agape. “For God so agapaō the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16]
This is the topic in Matthew 6 in The Sermon on the Mount. At the root of true giving, is “charity,” agape, which is unconditional love. Charity is love that gives, and the one who is born of the Spirit can know this love from the Father, through the Son, and in the power of the Spirit. The one who is immersed in the Spirit can experience the supernatural principle: “It is better to give than to receive.”
That is why the testimony of agape is serving, giving of one’s time, energy, and resources to further the Kingdom. If a Christian is lacking in serving, he is probably lacking in agape.
Charity begins in a one-on-one posture with Jesus, and then supernaturally follows with ministry. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men” [v. 6:1].
The source of true religion is charity, agape [the right kind of love]. If we cannot give rightly then giving is empty, “for God loves a cheerful giver.”
But when right charity is exercised, God’s blessings are endless; “…and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” [v. 6:4]
