Comment: Giving to others who have need, that is, helping others out of genuine concern or empathy gives happiness to the giver. Our Lord Jesus Christ was quoted by St. Paul as saying that it is better to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) It has been said that an individual has not started living “until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity”.  We recall that Zaccheus offered to give half of his goods to the poor as a way of relieving himself of the guilt of his past and make him feel happy, – Luke 19:1-10.

It was to instil in the Israelites the joy of sharing what they have with those who are way down in the social ladder that God Almighty made the law that left-over produce in the farms be left for the poor, the widows and the fatherless. (Leviticus 19:9,10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19,20). Also, it has been said that happiness is when the greatest good gets to the greatest number. God requires His people to help to clothe the poor, give food to the hungry, water to the weary, bread to the hungry and to help the fatherless and widows.  (Job 22:6-12; 31:13-22) “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own”, says Robert A. Heinein. St. Paul exhorts: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” – Hebrews 13:16.