Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not away.
All Commentaries on Matthew 5:42 Go To Matthew 5
Theodore the Stratelates
AD 319
In giving us these directives so that their sense might be diligently examined, he did not intend us to take them according to the bare sound of the words. For he does not command to give to everyone who asks without exception, even if one has nothing to give, for that is impossible. Nor does he instruct us, if we have plenty, to give to someone who asks with a bad motive. For the donation then goes for evil things, as when someone asks for the sake of lust and intemperance and not for real need, and the person who gives merely provides fuel for such intemperance. For why is it said concerning the apostles that “distribution was made to each as any had need”? This tells us that they gave not so much to those who simply asked but that they provided for others on the basis of need. And do not forget about the verse that says, “A man is acceptable according to what he has, not according to what he does not have,” and “not so that others should be relieved and you burdened.”
