In defending Mary, who generously anointed his feet with costly perfume before his death and burial, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 15:11 (cf. John 12:4-8). His words have at times been misused to justify an uncaring spirit toward the poor—an impossible meaning, when we read their full setting in Deuteronomy 15. The sages who compiled the Proverbs closely linked generosity with righteousness, praising those who trust in God’s values and share generously with people in need.

• Following God means valuing and admiring God’s qualities, and wanting to have them yourself (cf. Matthew 5:48). When we serve a generous God, it makes sense that we will want to grow in our own practice of generosity. Have you ever felt (in the words of Deuteronomy 15) “hard-hearted” or “tight fisted” toward poor people, and “resented” giving to help them? In what ways is God helping you feel better about “opening your hand generously” to “the needy among you”?
• Israel’s Proverbs were descriptions of how life usually works, not promises that God will always force things to happen in a certain way. To which traits did this set of proverbs assign the highest value? The lowest value? Which parts of these proverbs will come true in eternity, even if they don’t always happen in this world? How closely do the values you live by each day fit with the values Israel’s sages taught?