Charity is done for the benefit, assistance, and relief of people in need. For instance, providing the victims of war, natural disasters, epidemics, poverty, with food, shelter, medical assistance, and other basic needs. When carried out selflessly, it is a one-way act where an individual gives and asks for nothing in return. The essay elaborates on this proverb and discusses its different interpretations while answering an important question: Is our interpretation of the proverb flawed?
Long and Short Essay on Charity Begins at Home for Students and Children in English
Long Essay on Charity Begins at Home in 600 Words
Charity is a commonly quoted but rarely practiced virtue. Life leaves us with little scope to understand anything beyond the narrow view of our vested interests. We forget that true happiness is beyond the definitions of owning and possessing and that It is the spiritual consciousness of defining various moments in our lives with love, grace, and gratitude.
The proverb ‘Charity Begins at Home’ can be interpreted in two different ways.
The first interpretation is that one’s family comes first and their first duty is for their family and friends whereas the other interpretation is that kids learn charity first in their home. Charity is an act of humanitarianism that involves providing for the ones in need selflessly. Compassion and empathy shouldn’t be reserved for the ones we know.
People speculate that the phrase ‘Charity Begins at home’ is biblical, but the exact origin is still debated. It is said that this proverb is expressed in the King James Bible, verse 1 Timothy 5:4. This verse hints towards the second interpretation of the proverb, that one should learn piety at home. It implies that charity doesn’t necessarily mean giving goods or money, sometimes it’s being there for someone when they need someone to talk to, providing them comfort in tough times, even sharing food with the starved is a small act of charity. These minute gestures teach us compassion and empathy. The same idea was expressed in ‘Of prelates’ in 1382 by John Wyclif whereas the first person to put the phrase in the form we use now was Sir Thomas Browne in Religio Medici, 1642.
Since its existence, our world has been unequal in every way, guaranteeing the existence of rich and poor, strong and weak people living together. While poverty is extreme and widespread, let’s not forget just how many rich and wealthy individuals are capable of giving in the developed world. It’s high time we need to realize the power we have when pooled together in our hands.
Charity, however, originates from the heart as you feel the urge to give, starts from home, and eventually extends to others in society. Kids learn what they see around them. They absorb and mimic everything their parents or the adults around them do. The best way to teach them compassion and empathy is to practise it around them. Home is the first place where the child’s character and personality are developed and it plays a major role in making them charitable. Showing them the importance of charity at a young age will make them cherish those values when they grow old and also pass them down to their children. We can only teach ourselves the attitude of becoming kind to strangers by being sympathetic to our family.
In conclusion, we can say that the two interpretations of the proverb ‘Charity Begins at Home’ are closely interlinked. Basically, the proverb states that one learns compassion, empathy, and the joy of giving at home, and they perform charity towards their own family, in the first place. It can be something as small as sharing their food or listening to a family member in need, hence a child’s first charity is practised at home. Our prior understanding of the proverb was a bit flawed as it meant that our family is our top priority when it comes to charity. Our family is supposed to be the starting point and not the end of our charity. The proverb figuratively implies that every act of charity begins not in a grand scheme, but in one’s home.
Short Essay on Charity Begins at Home in 200 Words
The realization that all the areas of life are dependent on one another, provides us with an understanding of how to be charitable. When it comes to health, by eating well, exercising, and sleeping optimally, you practice charity by being kind to yourself. Charity begins at home when it comes to your family, by loving and supporting them unconditionally. You can practice charity when it comes to work by training and mentoring someone at work or serving clients from the heart and not out of obligation or money. Simply listening to a friend is a form of charity, when your friend is in distress. You can be charitable to yourself when it comes to learning by taking time out for your personal development. Finally, by donating whatever you can afford to a charity whose mission resonates deeply within you, you can demonstrate charity when it comes to wealth. An individual has always been able to flaunt, preach, and educate others about the values of human beings who are kind, generous, and charitable. However, if that individual does not practice the same qualities that they preach about in themselves, their actions and words have no value or significance. Thus, we can conclude that If you want to bring about a change in the world, you should first change yourself and your loved ones.
Conclusion
An individual can never be patient and forbearing with others except if one is able to foster this attitude at home. It is unquestionably very much easier to bear with the weaknesses of those we love. Once you begin to pursue sympathy with your kith and kin, you will find it easier to do so with others. The home is the centre, and hence let the goodness that is within you radiate from the centre in ever-widening circles.