And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Colossians 3:14
“Charity indeed is not…a matter of mere generous intention: on the contrary, it involves that exact appropriateness of reciprocal action necessary to produce a ‘beautiful’ order, and in this sense, charity is the very consummation of both justice and prudence.”
John Milbank in Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason (Malden: Blackwell, 2006) 416.
Charity is grace: unmerited favor. When we receive it from God and extend it toward others we exhibit generosity that Milbank rightly describes as “that exact appropriateness of reciprocal action.” It produces unquestionably beautiful order, or in plain terms, it makes things right.
On this Lord’s day, ask the Father what it would look like for you to consummate justice and prudence in the place where He has planted you. How has he placed you there to bring beauty and contribute to flourishing not by “mere generous intention” but as an conduit of charity?