In our ministrations to others we are not to forget that money is not the only thing of which people are sorely in need—some need love and sympathy who do not need money. Our Lord was one of these; His own heart, full of love, found comparatively little companionship in the more or less sordid minds of even the noblest of the fallen race represented among His Apostles. In Mary He seemed to find the depth of love and devotion which was to Him an odor of sweet incense, of refreshment, of reinvigoration, a tonic; and Mary apparently appreciated, more than did others, the lengths and breadths of the Master's character. She not only delighted to sit at His feet to learn of Him but also delighted, at great cost, to give Him some manifestation of her devotion, her love.
The Apostle's words imply the possibility of giving without charity and as we think of the matter, we recognize the truth of his statement from the fact that some give for vainglory, some for show, some for profit and some from envy and strife. Instead of such giving benefiting, it positively depraves character. In order to bless both him who gives and him who receives, giving must flow from Divine love.
John 13:34; 1 Cor. 13:1, 2, 4-13; 16:14; 2 Cor. 9:7; Matt. 6:1-4; 7:22, 23; Prov. 17:9; Gal. 5:6; 1 Thes. 4:9; 2 Thes. 1:3; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Pet. 4:8; 1 John 3:14-18.
