I have no specific verse for a text here, because I must refer to the entire chapter in this devotional. Let me say though that we need not change the word “charity” here to love. If the Lord meant for us to do so, He would have written it that way! Paul mentions love many times in his writings, and 5 times in this book alone; he knew the difference in the words, and so, by the way, do the translators. When we change this one word, we change the Word of God, just as surely as those who attempt to discredit the true Word with their inferior versions of the Bible; in this we are no better than them. Charity means exactly what it means today, giving of alms, which is the apex of love. Charity is giving…God so loved the world that he gave… that is charity, the charity of God. Now, moving on to the “meat” of the matter, let us examine the chapter and see the “hidden Man” in it.
1 John 4:8 teaches us that “God is love”, that being so, we can say that Christ is Charity. Here is why I say it: In v. 2 we see that we are nothing without this “charity”; we all know that we are nothing without Christ and that needs no further explaining: Then in v. 3 we see that all our good works, whatever they may be, are nothing without Him, as we well know also: In verses 4-7 we have an excellent description of the character of Jesus, and He fits in there perfectly: In v. 8 we see the majesty of Christ, and that He is the Everlasting One, who is superior to everything and everyone else: And in verse 9 we see the fickleness of man, and how far we fall short of Him and His glory. It is easy to see Jesus in these verses, He weaves Himself in and out of them and permeates them with His wonderful presence. Yes, only Jesus can fit into these virtues without wavering and without reproach from anyone. Don’t stop there though, look at verse 13, where we see some lovely virtues mentioned, but the greatest of all is…what? Charity. Jesus is the living example of charity, and the Holy Spirit represents grace, while the Father Himself is love. Do you see the connection? They all work together because they are all one in the Father.
You see, love serves while charity gives, and the grace of God empowers and magnifies them both. Where there is love, there is giving; we express our love to others by this very act, the act of giving. God did it (in John 3:16, as partially quoted above) and we received grace. Giving is the outward manifestation of love, the giving of ourselves, it is the only way we can see love in others, and show our love to them, just as Jesus showed His love by giving His life for us.
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