Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 5:42

"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." — Matthew 5:42 (ASV)

Be generous. A miser is no follower of Jesus. Discretion should be used in our giving, so that we do not encourage idleness and begging, but the general rule is, Give to him that asketh thee. Sometimes a loan may be more useful than a gift. Do not refuse it to those who will make right use of it.

These precepts are not meant for fools. They are set before us as our general rule, but each rule is balanced by other Scriptural commands, and the teaching of philanthropic common sense is there to guide us. Our spirit is to be one of readiness to help the needy by gift or loan, and we are not exceedingly likely to err by excess in this direction. This is why the command is so bold.

Give to him who asks you, and from him who would borrow from you do not turn away.

Be generous. A miser is no follower of Jesus. Discretion is to be used in our giving, so that we do not encourage idleness and beggary; but the general rule is, Give to him who asks you.

Sometimes a loan may be more useful than a gift; do not refuse it to those who will make right use of it. These precepts are not meant for fools; they are set before us as our general rule. However, each rule is balanced by other Scriptural commands, and the teaching of philanthropic common-sense is there to guide us.

Our spirit is to be one of readiness to help the needy by gift or loan, and we are not exceedingly likely to err by excess in this direction; hence the boldness of the command.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

This is the spirit of the Christian – to live with the view of doing service.