1 Corinthians 13:13
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

When I first looked at this, “but the greater of these is charity” I thought, “why the word charity – why is it the greatest”?

Charity – The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word.

1. benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity
2. generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering; aid given to those in need.
3. lenient judgment of others

Perhaps charity is the greatest in the Bible because it encompasses all the gifts of the Holy Spirit for which each of us is given and being given different talents and gifts. If we are to be like Jesus, we must love and sacrifice but we must also be charitable with others by forgiving. We must have faith that He will do a spiritual work inside of us to extend ourselves to self and to others as Godly people with a GODLY BEHAVIOR.

The generosity part of charity is not only expected to aid the needy and suffering but by virtue of the fact that sin has permeated the world . . . everyone is suffering in some way. God calls us to be charitable to all those around us . . . even those who give us a hard time . . . In that effort, we must be sure of who we are, draw our lines of acceptable behavior when they are around us, then get out of their way, pray for them and let God have the reigns and do His work.

God calls us to be charitable to ourselves and “not own’ other peoples behavior but he calls us to walk a life of love, faith, hope and charity. We can’t control what others think or how they act but with the gift of charity, we can be our best selves.