Charity vs. A Charitable Act

Today, in class we discussed the concept of charity vs. the concept of charitable actions. We defined charity as giving to charity, in the form of money or some other type of giving. A charitable action is the action of giving that includes some kind of personal sacrifice. Many people are charitable, because the give lots of money or material things to those less fortunate. However, these people, although their generosity is nice, are not really making any real sacrifice, and often these people make donations to make them selves feel better or more charitable. Those who make charitable actions, most often are making some type of sacrifice, whether it be their time or some kind of labor. Those who make charitable actions, I believe are more likely to be doing it to be helping others, rather than trying to make themselves feel better. Does this mean that the people who only give money to charity are not good people, no of course not. Those people who make donations are stilling giving up money that could be used on themselves directly, by purchasing a new movie, or video game, or cheeseburger that they don't really want. It's just that those who make charitable actions truly are giving up their own time and sacrificing to help others, which makes that person truly helpful to those who need it. People who make charitable donations often are spending the money on themselves in a way, because often those people feel better about themselves for donating and helping someone else. But to those who truly sacrifice for those less fortunate, I salute you.