A WORD FOR TODAY, November 21, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 21, 2025
“If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13, WEB
Bruce and I went to a charity gala last night. It was a sparkling event, with colorful lights and pretty flowers on the table. The charity serves children who have disabilities, with intervention services that empower them to discover new possibilities. They give families the resources necessary to navigate difficult situations. I’ve been to charity galas in the past, but I was impressed with the generosity of the guests. The bids for the auction items were thousands of dollars, but they also had a time when they sought donations with no strings attached. The auctioneer asked how many people were willing to give gifts of thousands of dollars, each step of the ladder a little less than the last. It was hard to keep up, but it seemed like over a hundred people gave at least $500. One guest bid on every number!
This is the season to be generous. I don’t know about you, but my mailbox has been full of donation requests from many organizations. There are opportunities at church, in the stores. Charities are using television, radio, and social media to convince viewers to give to them this year. It is not surprising that this is the time of year for donation requests. The holidays fill our hearts with faith, hope, and love, and we share these feelings in tangible ways. For Christians, our thankfulness for God’s blessings, especially the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, makes us more willing to give blessings to others. As long as we are buying gifts, we might as well buy an extra toy to give to a collection for those who are struggling.
In the World English Version of the Bible, Paul wrote, “The greatest of these is love.” Other translations of this passage use the word “charity” instead of “love.” We assume that the word charity refers to the act of giving to someone in need; when we think of charity, particularly at this time of year, we tend to think in terms of dropping a few coins in those red kettles or giving canned corn to the local food bank. But charity goes beyond kindness to the stranger. To be charitable is to be kind and lenient, forbearing with the imperfections of others. The dictionary definition includes a very broad understanding of loving one’s fellow man. And while it is important to remember that love is more than just an emotional response to someone who interests us, that it is about the act of meeting the needs of our neighbors, I like the use of the word “love” here, because sometimes we forget why we do these things.
How many of us give food to the food bank without really considering the people who are receiving those gifts? I once heard someone grumbling about how times are tough for everyone and though willing to share, they wondered if the people taking charity really need it. The gifts are more about duty than love. But if we consider everything we do through the eyes of Christ, we will realize that charity is not simply about meeting the physical needs of those in need. If we are charitable at all, our charity will take many forms, just as love takes different forms in our relationships with family, friends and neighbors.
Are you willing to forgive the person who hurt you this year? Are you willing to admit your own failure to do what is good and right? Are you able to allow someone else to do the things you would prefer to do and take upon yourself the tasks you don’t like to do? These are all ways of acting charitable; they are all ways of acting out of love.
One of the problems with the word charity is that sometimes people are much too proud to accept those gifts. A story in a devotional called “Everything Christmas” written by Elece Hollis describes how one man discovered the joy of giving love rather than charity. It was during the depression in the Midwest where financial troubles were made worse by the dust bowl drought that affected the whole region. The people were poor and hungry. The family was in better shape than the rest because the father owned the grocery store which also acted as gas station and post office. Though people did not have much money, they still needed flour, milk, gas, sugar, kerosene and coffee. They needed needles and thread.
Of course, few people could afford to buy anything, but the grocer did not worry. He allowed his neighbors to take food for credit and promised to do so as long as he could get supplies and feed his own family. He was not always paid back. Some people had to leave town to find work in other places where conditions were not as terrible. He didn’t care. He could not allow people to starve. Eventually, long after the depression was over and the man had forgiven the debts, some of those families sent checks to pay their accounts. “Thank you for what you did for us. Here is the balance of our account,” said the notes in those letters.
The most heartbreaking part of this situation for the grocer was seeing the faces of the poor children and the hunger in their eyes. They desperately needed a taste of candy, a touch of grace. And yet their families were too proud, they could not take “charity.” The man didn’t think of it as charity, but the children still refused. How could he give these children a treat and allow the families to keep their dignity? He figured out a way. He prepared bags full of treats, fruit, and nuts and gave one to every person who attended the school Christmas pageant. The people could see those packages as gifts, rather than charity, and they readily received what he had to give.
The continued by saying that though we are not living in such desperate times, many Midwestern towns continue the tradition of paper bags begun by that grocery so long ago. We aren’t in the midst of a depression, but I know there are many families who are having difficulty with Christmas treats this year. These are often people who will not accept charity, but who could use a little extra help. How can you give a “paper bag” gift to those families this year? How can you act out the love you have for your neighbor while allowing them to hold on to their self-worth?
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