“Charity, as it is written, is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:5) meaning that it places the common good before its own, not its own before the common good. So whenever you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know that you are growing in charity.”
Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Written about the year 400, The Rule of St. Augustine, divided into eight chapters, is one of the earliest guides for religious life. This excerpt from chapter V.