Charity Begins At Home
If you are Nigerian like me then you would be very use to this phrase. I heard it from when I was a child. The context it was used included situations where a child misbehaved outside or could not perform certain mandatory functions (sweeping, washing plate, greeting an elder, showing respect,etc) required of him/her by society.
What is your view about charity and do you believe that it should begin at home?
Charity
Aside the popular definition, what do we understand by the term charity?
The Oxford dictionary defines Charity as:
the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need
Meaning that it is an act where one sets aside voluntarily their resources for the service of humanity. It could be setting aside money, time and energy. It could be raising funds for a cause. But it must be done voluntarily without any duress.
Yes Charity can most definitely begin at home, the act of giving can be taught by our parents. When kids see their parent whom they learn everything for doing charitable things to their neighbours, they'll grow up with that attitude of giving.
I remember in my house during Christmas or whenever we cooked plenty meals, my stepmother will dish it out in a tray and give the food to me to take to our neighbours. Other times when people who weren't so blessed came to ask for help I would see their plight and wish there was enough to give them.
What is the motivating factor for charity work and is it good to broadcast what you have done for others
The motivating factor for charity work to me should be humanity. This is so because once you have humanity in you which is defined as being humane while humane in itself is defined as having or showing compassion or benevolence.
You can have all the money in this life but if you do not have that compassionate heart and love for your fellow human then you will not be able to remove any of your money to help any cause.
About showing off, the term showoff as defined by the Oxford languages definition refers to
a person who acts pretentiously or who publicly parades themselves, their possessions, or their accomplishments.
From the above meaning we can see that showing off is an act of pretense or publicly parading oneself.
The Bible says when you give, do not let your right hand know what your left hand giveth. And it also says that you should do it in secret because the Lord that seeth in secret will reward Rhee openly.
I put it to us that once a person shows off a charitable deed, the person's motive for deed was to dignify himself and be seen as relevant. He/she does not feel anything for the cause. And if you investigate properly the impact of his charity will be very minimal.
This does not mean we can not broadcast our charitable deed, this can be done but the motive matters.
Good motives include, broadcasting it to get others to join you in the cause. Broadcasting it so that others will be moved to the same. These should be the valid reasons for broadcasting a charity deed.
When was the last time you carried out charity work to the members of your home
I do that on a daily because it is something that have grown to become part of me. Most times my siblings don't do their chores and I help them do it without even talking about it.
When I see that something needs to be done, I do not act like a boss and command the junior ones around, instead I do it thereby showing them an example.
Your advice to others about charity
My advice to people about charity is that it is something we should all do. We are all we have left. Today you may have and tomorrow you won't have and will need help. Help others together and do not expect anything back.
Teach your children to do charitable deeds, visit the orphanage home with them, visit the hospital and give alms to the poor. Teach them why it is important for them to have a compassionate heart.
I invite @comfortpeter, @usoro01 and @uduak01 to join this challenge.
Thank you reading my blog. Remain blessed
