“The Bible says charity begins at home.”
The phrase is an English proverb, not a verse. Paul does teach that a man who fails to provide for his own house has denied the faith, but he writes it as a rebuke to the neglectful, not as permission to stop giving.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. — 1 Timothy 5:8
The saying has an old pedigree in English literature and none at all in Scripture, but it lands close enough to a real verse that people assume it is quoting one. Paul writes that if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. He is addressing a specific situation in Ephesus concerning the care of widows, and he is pressing families to shoulder responsibility rather than pass it to the church. Notice the direction of the rebuke. Paul is prying wallets open, not giving anyone a reason to close them. When the proverb is used to excuse tightfistedness toward strangers, it inverts the verse entirely. The same Paul commended the Macedonians, who in deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality toward believers they had never met.
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