Charity is Love in Action
by Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director – United Way of Charlotte County
My father would tell you that 13 was the luckiest number. It was his favorite number. He chose to go against popular opinion that the number 13 holds some sort of bad omen, and instead embraced it.
He had a tradition of sending me roses for Valentine's Day, often delivered on the 13th. Before he passed February 16, 2018, the last message I sent to him was thanking him for another beautiful bouquet. The day after his passing, I made another connection with the number 13. One of my favorite Bible verses was staring back at my grieving heart, I Corinthians 13:13, which states, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Those two thirteens, chapter and verse, feel reminiscent of February 13 (two thirteen), making today doubly lucky.
Since his passing, roses are now delivered to him on the 13th each year. They rest at his headstone that bears that lucky verse about love.
Diving into the meaning of the Greek word used here, agape, we find that our initial thought, perhaps of romantic love that we feel for our partner or spouse, or the love we feel for our family members, does not quite fit.
In fact, in the King James Version of the Bible, the word love is not used here at all. Instead, this translation states that the greatest of these is CHARITY.
While William Shakespeare may have felt that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” there is a slight nuance between referring to agape as either “love” or “charity”.
While the word agape is a noun, its meaning shines through when it is displayed as a verb. Agape is not the feeling of love that causes our face to light up at the thought of that special someone; agape means “active love”. It is meant to express the love that we display to others.
My father displayed his love through the act of giving. He gave because he loved.
Giving and serving are acts of love, acts of charity. I am surrounded by love in the work that I do with United Way of Charlotte County. Our work is meant to connect individual acts of charity in our community, exponentially increasing their impact. Collectively, we are getting to the heart of the issues in Charlotte County that prevent our neighbors from rising above.
The word charity sometimes has a negative connotation. If someone is known as a charity case, we tend to look down on them as complicit in their own adversity. But if we look at charity as an act of love, we see that those whom we serve are not less than us. In fact, we are honoring others above ourselves when we give.
Giving and serving others who can do nothing for you in return is a sacrifice born from a generous heart. We give to make an impact. We give to increase hope. We give because we love.
In this Month of Love 2022, think outside of popular opinion, as my father did. Embrace a different meaning for the word love. If 13 can be lucky, love can be charity. How will you put your love in action this month?
If you have a heart for joining us as we mobilize to break the cycle of poverty in Charlotte County, please visit www.unitedwayccfl.org.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org