Pursuit of Charity -- "Give me ALL your fishes"

I've had a story on my mind the last few hours and i want to share it. I feel like it is something that teaches a powerful principal of charity. What has been on my mind is the popular new testament story of when Christ miraculously feeds the five thousand. I had a friend who talked to me about this story, he told me something that has stuck with me and for some reason as of late has been playing over and over in my head, so much that i feel compelled to write about it. The account tells of how Christ is able to feed 5,000 people with only five loaves and two small fishes. Only one of the stories authors (to my knowledge) tells where these five loaves and two fishes come from. In the Book of ST John it tells us that they come from a young man. VS. 9 "there is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" This is the verse that has been on my mind. I feel like there is a real lesson of charity to be learned from this story. Why would Christ ask the young man for his bread and fish? He is the son of God, if He wanted don't you think he could simply have commanded the rocks at his feet to become bread? Or perhaps summoned fish out of thin air... Why did he need the boys food? I personally feel that he is using this to teach us something. I think its a lesson of consecration, what are we willing to give to the savior. Are willing to give all of our "fishes" and all of our "bread" to the savior? I have often, especially when asked to do seemingly hard things, pictured the Lord coming to me and saying "give me all your fishes". Its a thought that reminds me to always be willing to give of myself for the Lord. He may not need my fishes, but if I am willing to give them to him, He can make so much more out of them than I ever could alone! He can feed a lot of people with my fishes and my bread. What a great lesson for the pursuit of charity

The Pursuit of Charity

1 JOHN 4:19 "We love him, because he first loved us"

Charity has been defined in so many ways by different people, but of all the definitions that i have heard my favorite is that Charity is "Perfect and Everlasting Love". Charity is the love that Christ has for us, as well as the kind of love that we should have for each other. Of course getting to a point in our lives where we have that much selfless love for others is not an easy task. Charity requires a lifelong pursuit! I'm writing this blog in order to put down in words some of the thoughts that come to me in relation to the pursuit of charity. For any who read this, my hope is that you will be able to overlook my obvious weakness in writing, and find something in the thoughts I have written that will be of worth to you.

Becoming Selfless in Pursuit of Charity

The first thought that comes to my mind when it comes to the pursuit of charity is selflessness. I don't think we can ever really have charity until we are able to forget ourselves and focus on those around us. One of Satins greatest tools is to get us thinking so much about ourselves; our wants, our needs, our trouble, that we forget to serve others. We must be willing to surrender what we want for what is of real worth. the adversary is good at making the cares of the world seem so important, but if we take a minute to think about what is really important in life I think that our time can often be spent in the pursuit of much better things. I have sometimes caught myself thinking thinks like "if I take the time to do this... for him, I will not have time for this...". Though serving others does require some sacrifice, I think it's important to remember that when we let the lord use our time He can accomplish much more with it than we ever could otherwise. The goal is "ultimate submission". I have heard it said that our wills constitute all we really have to give God. Everything else that we have is already His! But our own personal will He will never take from us, we must choose to give it to Him. In return God promises that the fully faithful will receive "all that [He] hath'! In light of that eternal truth giving up my petty concerns and selfish desires to serve others becomes much easier. My Dad often says (Speaking of life) "We are all in this thing together" I love that statement. We are not alone, we are all here together, and we are here to help each other succeed! The man content to get to heaven alone will never get to heaven!