2 Thessalonians 1:3b the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

Ever heard the expression “Charity begins at home.”? I used to hear it all the time. I heard it every week when I wrote a check for tithing. It was a weak plea not to tithe. This came from someone who did not understand that a tithe is not charity.

Properly rendered this verse should say that the love of every one of you all towards each other abounds. The essence of charity is love not money. While the easiest expression of loving support seems to be financial, may I suggest that it isn’t the most loving.

Which is more loving in your mind, to give a gift card to a restaurant or to take a friend to a restaurant and pick up the check? Money has no attachment, no emotional connection. It is there and then it is gone. A look, a conversation, a moment spent in developing relations is far more giving of self than offering money.

I do not want to minimize the importance of charitable giving. For some endeavors financial support is needed more than personal commitment. I just want us to lose sight of all the ways we can be charitable without using money. Time well spent is as much a part of being a good steward as finances.

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

May I suggest that part of this verse might better read as; “and have omitted the weightier matters of the heart.”