See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
1 John 3:1a
I was reading an article in the news last night about a famous celebrity whose charitable organization has not given away a single dime in the last five years and is under investigation. Sadly she was not operating a very “charitable charity”. Yet even when we think of organizations who are doing and giving generously, maybe food, supplies, or education, they pale in comparison to the charity of our God in heaven.
The God of the universe has taken us in our filthy, unworthy condition, one where we had made ourselves rebels against him, the very giver/sustainer of life, and has adopted us as his children. When I think of adopted children I often imagine a lesser stepchild, like Cinderella in my girls’ favorite movie, who is technically a child but based on treatment is not really a child. We get to be much more than adopted children though, as if that were not amazing enough (even getting to live as a servant in God’s house would incredibly gracious of God). God has made us coheirs with his perfect and legitimate son Jesus. That means that because of Jesus’s righteousness imputed to us (given to us), we get to inherit with him in heaven. Now that is some amazing charity that God has shown toward us!
If God has been so charitable to us, shouldn’t we too be charitable to those around us? As adopted heirs of God, our love and care for the people near us and around the world should be an amazing testimony to the charity we have already received. It is easy to get so focused on what is going on in our own small “world” that we miss amazing opportunities that God has placed all around us. Recently the girls and I were talking about the fact that they had too many toys. My solution was to bag some of those toys up and put them away in a closet. After reading a bible story one morning that talked about giving, the girls told me they wanted to give those toys away to children who don’t have as many toys. I was very touched and convicted by their generous hearts. We sat down then and there and began to research how we could give their used toys. There are opportunities all around us to reflect the amazing charity we have received from God if we would just open our eyes.
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