Give to every man that asketh of thee Literally, "be giving implying a habit, not an instant act. Here again we have a broad, general principle of unselfishness and liberality safely left to the common sense of mankind, Deuteronomy 15:7-9. The spiritof our Lord's precept is now best fulfilled by notgiving to every man that asks, because in the altered circumstances of the age such indiscriminate almsgiving would only be a check to industry, and a premium on imposture, degradation, and vice. By -giving," our Lord meant -conferring a boon;" but mere careless giving now, so far from conferring a boon, perpetuates a curse and inflicts an injury. The spiritof the precept is large-handed but thoughtfulcharity. Love must sometimes violate the letter as the only possible way of observing the spirit (Matthew 15:26; Matthew 20:23).

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