AC 3776 - The Origins of Real Charity

AC 3776 [2]

. . . charity which looks like charity
 in outward appearance
is not always charity inwardly.
It is from the end in view
that one recognizes which kind of charity it is
and where it originates.
Charity which springs from
a selfish or a worldly end in view
is not charity inwardly.
Nor indeed ought it to be called charity.
But charity which springs from the neighbor,
the common good, heaven, and so the Lord,
as the end in view is charity itself
and contains the affection for doing good
from the heart,
and therefore contains the delight of life,
which in the next life becomes a blessed delight.
It is highly important for a person to know this
if he is to know
what the Lord's kingdom is within himself.