DAILY VITAMIN
- Charity Begins At Home
"Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Tim 5:8 NIV)
Jesus' ministry emphasized this very much. You can feed the whole world but it means nothing if your own home stays Hungry. In Mark 7, He spoke about how a man must give to his hungry parents even if that was meant to be a gift to the temple, because God delights in this (v.10-13).
He goes further to show us the extent of his delight to begin from his people. When the Syrophoenician woman came to Him, He told her "First, I should help my own family" (v.27). Though He answered her petition, it doesn't still take away the relevance of those words.
The family is the first world God gave to a man, and it is where he must first replenish and multiply. And this family include both the biological and spiritual. That's why speaking about Charity, Paul tells us to be especially kind to our Christian brothers (Gal 6:10). So it includes both set of families.
Why do you think Jesus went back to Nazareth to do the same miracles He had done everywhere else even though their unbelief wouldn't let Him? Because He delights in starting from home. Do likewise.
