If the Holy Spirit has given you a burden for the lost or for some cause of action, the question then becomes, how do I release this burden, to bring this to past?

The word burden is sometimes used very loosely, but simply put; a burden is a mental desire to do something, or for something to happen. In the Greek, phortion, a word for burden is translated as task or service.

All of us have been given burdens, or have been burdened down with something at one time or another in our lives.

My burden has been with the societal issues and concerns of today’s youth. What is yours?

It’s common to hear stories and accounts of people who were once poor, abused in a certain way, or maybe have experienced a tragedy in their lives to take that adversity and use it for good or to do something philanthropic in nature.

If you have been planning on doing something good around a particular cause or for a particular group of people and that burden (mental desire) has been there for a long time; it’s time to get up and get moving. It’s time to execute that plan of action: start that nonprofit organization; volunteer at the food bank; go down to the Mission and pass out tracts; start that Bible study for people who have experienced some of the same adversity as yourself. Don’t keep carrying that burden. Release it. Do something.

To those who operate from a religious base of conscience and report that they are often moved or guided by the Holy Spirit; then this message is especially for you.

God is love. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Those are the guiding principles for most Christians. God loves us and He wants us to love our neighbor.

Apostle Paul, in the book of first Corinthians speaks in-depth about charity. The Greek translation for the word charity is “love.” In fact, it is translated agape love, which is the highest form of love for mankind.

Paul has a very long discourse with the church at Corinth about what charity (agape love) looks, acts, behaves, and feels like.

Paul stated: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth… And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (See 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 13, KJV.)

Again, Paul states; “Let all your things be done with charity.” (See 1 Corinthians 16:14, KJV.)

Paul was not the only one in the New Testament who talked about charity: both Peter and Jesus mentioned its importance.

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (See 1 Peter 4:8, KJV.)

“I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first,” said Jesus to the Church in Thyatira. (See Revelations 2:19, KJV.)

Based upon my understanding of how charity operates within society, and not just within the church; charity is a way to serve people with agape love. It’s a way to serve someone or something with affection and benevolence; stated another way; it means to serve with kindness, compassion, and goodwill. It is at the heart of God to serve His people with love and compassion. Thus, God is charitable, or philanthropic in nature.

We hear the words charity, charitable, or philanthropy, but have we ever considered that those words come from the root word of charity?

Who hasn’t attended a charity event? Who doesn’t know someone who started a nonprofit or a foundation because they were moved with compassion over a distressing situation?

The United States of America is the most charitable and philanthropic country in the world. The churches in America are recipients of a great deal of the altruistic and generosity of its citizens. But there are charities and foundations being established daily to meet the growing needs of the poor, needy, afflicted and fatherless generations of our day.

Love is what moves people to supply the needs of the poor. Love [aka Charity] is what motivates individuals to remain faithful to a cause, make personal and financial sacrifices, and to defend that cause with everything within them.

It is my belief that charity and charitable organizations are from God. They are His way of providing goods and services to people without them being motivated by money, or avariciousness [mammon, as it is called in the New Testament].

It is my further belief that God’s aim and objective was to get individuals to serve one another with “charity”, with “Love”, and with their personal gifts, talents, anointings, and resources.

There is so much that needs to be done. Let’s get busy and begin serving, like never before. Release that burden; if you haven’t already done so, and serve with new fervor, new vision, new compassion, and new enthusiasm.