Charity for Our Families and by Our Families

This might go without saying, but in one sense, charity does begin at home. "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8). Our closest neighbors are our family members, and acts of charity are called for on a daily basis. Moreover, our families should be given to charity. It's in the context of the family that we train our children to be spiritual, charitable servants. God sees and bless such spirituality. "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, 'Cornelius!' And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, 'What is it, lord?' So he said to him, 'Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.'" ―Acts 10:1-4