Love (1 Cor. 13) again - Charity and Love
So, last week's homework was for everyone to read 1 Cor. chapter 13 everyday. No one did it.
It's hard to encourage homework but I think it's still worth trying.
Anyway, we compared the King James Version and the New International Version of the scripture passage. The KJV features the word "Charity" while the NIV uses the word "Love". I believe the original Greek word used was "agape".
We read some definitions and comments from bibles that people had there in the group. Each person gave their thoughts about what "love" is and what "charity" is and what the differences are.
Towards the end, I pointed out that one of the definitions included the idea of reaching down to help someone with less money or strength that yourself. This is what we use the word "charity" for today.
Then I said how far God reaches down to us, from his great power and strength down to our tiny existence. Yet, he reaches to us. It is with this picture we can reach to our brother and love him.
One of our regular attendees accepted a plea bargin for 6 years in federal prison. He is in his mid-twenties now. The group talked quite a bit about this. I asked him to spend a moment each day praying for Yokefellow Prison Ministries. We encouraged him to continue his studies and learn a trade if possible. I didn't know what else to say.
We've had numerous guys get sentences of 5+ years. But it often seems hard to accept. Society tends to forget the incarcerated. But you can't forget someone who you've seen every week for 6 months. Jesus doesn't forget us.
It's hard to encourage homework but I think it's still worth trying.
Anyway, we compared the King James Version and the New International Version of the scripture passage. The KJV features the word "Charity" while the NIV uses the word "Love". I believe the original Greek word used was "agape".
We read some definitions and comments from bibles that people had there in the group. Each person gave their thoughts about what "love" is and what "charity" is and what the differences are.
Towards the end, I pointed out that one of the definitions included the idea of reaching down to help someone with less money or strength that yourself. This is what we use the word "charity" for today.
Then I said how far God reaches down to us, from his great power and strength down to our tiny existence. Yet, he reaches to us. It is with this picture we can reach to our brother and love him.
One of our regular attendees accepted a plea bargin for 6 years in federal prison. He is in his mid-twenties now. The group talked quite a bit about this. I asked him to spend a moment each day praying for Yokefellow Prison Ministries. We encouraged him to continue his studies and learn a trade if possible. I didn't know what else to say.
We've had numerous guys get sentences of 5+ years. But it often seems hard to accept. Society tends to forget the incarcerated. But you can't forget someone who you've seen every week for 6 months. Jesus doesn't forget us.
posted by Kathy Kolb | 3:54 PM
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