CHARITY – WHAT IS IT?

I recently prepared a talk on the subject “Charity” and wanted to share my sudden fixation on how there is no clear definition on what “charity” is. My post I’m sure will not add to the clarity but I feel compelled to share my thoughts anyways (isn’t that what blogs are for?).

If you ask what “charity” is I find that there are a lot of vague answers that are given with good intentions yet have little clarity . . .
- Charity never faileth (RS motto) –
- Charity is the pure love of Christ –
- Charity is serving others –
- Charity is what we give to others –

Seems like there are a lot of glittering generalities but what definition may be there seems vague and abstract.

In 1 Corinthians Chap 13:1-3, 13 it speaks of how you can have some truly amazing spiritual gifts but without charity it will “profit me nothing”. In Moroni 10:20-21 it speaks of faith, hope, and charity and without charity you can’t be saved. Seems charity is pretty important and so we ought to know what it is. So when in doubt go look up the word in the Bible Dictionary and get the definition right?

BIBLE DICTIONARY: CHARITY - The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds or benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive.

Ok that’s clear right? So charity is not alms, deeds or benevolence. Wait, the story Christ gave on the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36); that was a “deed” wasn’t it. The widow’s mite – wasn’t that an “alm”. Mother Teresa provided benevolence to all the poor in India. Aren’t these exampls of charity? These have been my definitions of charity so the bible dictionary's definition seemed to undo the little understanding I had of charity.

As I prepared more I came across a great quote that reminded me of another way to define a word; provide the opposite definition. President Uchtdorf, in his talk the “The Infinite Power of Hope,” (Liahona, Nov 2008, 21–24) said “Why then is there despair? The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.”

Even armed with vague answers of what charity is the opposite of, vague definitions of what charity is, the importance of having charity, and knowing what charity is not; I still don’t feel like I have an idea of what charity is, let alone how to get it and grow it. So last night as I went for a walk I brought a notepad and I mulled in my mind what charity is. I’m not going to share my brain storm session since brain storming isn’t supposed to be a critical activity; but I will share some of the items I began to formulate.

The words often mentioned with charity are faith and hope. The first principles of the gospel are faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation. As we gain faith and hope we repent and then we can follow Christ’s example of baptism. Once the baptismal covenant is made we are able to renew that covenant weekly with the sacrament. In Sacrament meeting we are invited to analyze our lives and determine to improve upon our weaknesses before we renew our covenant – this is repentance. Admittedly some repentance must involve priesthood authority; regardless when we are preparing to partake of the Sacrament we should be looking for ways to grow and improve line upon line. As we determine to do better in the new week we are prepared to renew our covenant by partaking of the Sacrament.

Elder Oaks has said that “A testimony is something that we know and feel; conversion is something we do and become”. As we proceed to have faith and hope we become determined to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as we hope for the Atonement to satisfy justice on our behalf and allows us to mercifully return to live with our Heavenly Father. This is the faith and hope that leads to repentance and baptismal covenants. Once we are converted and are constantly renewing the baptismal covenant it only makes sense that we’d have our testimony increase – yeah but then what? Does conversion as Elder Oaks stated just happen? In 2 Nephi 28:30 it says: “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”

It sounds like it is still a choice we have to make. So if we continue to “receiveth” so that we can be given more then it seems we will grow and our conversion can be seen by what we do. While our conversion isn’t defined by what we do, it is showing what we are trying “to do and become”. Obviously, the other choice is to say “We have enough” and lose even what we have . . . this isn’t on the path to obtaining charity though so I’ll ignore this point.

So, back to charity; is our conversion an indicator of our charity? Is charity and indicator of our conversion? In Luke 10:27 it covers the two laws: “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” So, as we work week by week, renewing our covenant and growing line upon line, as we study the life of the Saviour and follow the precepts that he taught we will grow in our love not only for God, but also for our fellowman. As this love goes from just being a feeling (see definition of Testimony by Elder Oaks) and we begin acting upon it then we will becoming what God wants us to be (see definition of Conversion by Elder Oaks).

This “becoming” will stir in us more faith, more hope, and a stronger testimony. This stirring will elevate our levels of faith and hope as we begin to share it with others. We do this by sharing the gospel and treating others with the same love and appreciation we have gained from our faith. President Uchtdorf states this best in his talk “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 21–24
Faith, hope, and charity complement each other, and as one increases, the others grow as well. Hope comes of faith, for without faith, there is no hope. In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is “the substance of things hoped for.”
Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.
The things we hope for lead us to faith, while the things we hope in lead us to charity. The three qualities—faith, hope, and charity—working together, grounded on the truth and light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, lead us to abound in good works”

It seems that charity is conversion to the teachings of Jesus Christ. He taught us because he loves us. He gave us an example by living his life on Earth because he loves us. Could this be the definition of charity? I'm still not convinced I have a good way to define charity. If you have read this far and have some thoughts I’d love to hear them.

I ended my talk with this challenge: Determine if we are learning charity line upon line – Recognize the doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen in our lives and when you partake of the sacrament every week, determine to improve yourself and to increase your faith, hope, and charity and you are promised from the Lord: “for unto him that receiveth I will give more”.

Andrew “what is charity” Brown