Compensation for labor or wrongdoing forms a central illustration of justice in the material. Injustice arises first when people receive unequal compensation for identical efforts, whether through underpayment by a stingy employer or favoritism granting excess rewards to some. Scripture establishes that those who labor deserve appropriate reward, as in the principle of not muzzling an ox while it treads grain. The same principle applies within families when a parent grants special privileges to one child while treating others less favorably. A second form of injustice occurs when equal compensation is given for differing efforts, violating the requirement that rewards remain proportional to the work, sacrifice, and responsibility involved. Examples include a spendthrift sibling receiving a car while a diligent one saves for it or identical participation awards regardless of performance. Such practices undermine personal responsibility and obscure the link between effort and outcome, though they differ from charity, which aids the needy without regard to work performed, or inheritance, which is a gift rather than earned compensation. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard demonstrates mercy extended to willing laborers rather than equal rewards for idleness. When punishment is required, justice likewise demands fair compensation for the offense, such as requiring a child who steals to restore the item and face discipline for violating the commandment. These standards of compensation reveal how impartial judgment, free from partiality or excessive expectations, produces true justice tempered by mercy and compassion, enabling believers to reflect God's character by treating others according to what is due while extending forgiveness and aid without expectation of return.

The material presents compensation as the return that God provides to those who give generously, arising directly from Jesus' statement that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This principle counters the cynicism and suspicion generated by constant appeals for time, attention, and money, replacing fear-driven hoarding with a willing spirit that acknowledges giving as a privileged duty. While generosity must occur without direct expectation of return, the law of compensation still operates, as seen when Jesus assured His disciples of up to a hundredfold recompense after they had given all. Five principles govern this process. Sowing must precede reaping, so that any blessing requires prior giving. The return may not arrive in the same form as what was given; money offered may yield health, boldness, friends, healing, wisdom, or discernment instead, preventing human nature from limiting the exchange to material gain. A generous spirit extends beyond money to time, encouragement, kind correction, and sympathy, multiplying good in every area of life. God stands at the foundation of the entire process and cannot be outgiven; He increases the giver's capacity to give further, turning initial offerings into greater resources for continued liberality. Finally, God enriches the original giver specifically to produce a harvest of liberality that prompts thanksgiving both to Him and to the human channel of the gift. This dynamic yields abundant life, as illustrated when Peter, having nothing material to give, bestowed healing that brought the lame man into joyful relationship with God. The same pattern appears in the Philippian church, whose repeated aid from poverty produced fruit abounding to their account. Thus compensation removes room for sarcasm by demonstrating that the giver always receives more than the receiver because God Himself guarantees the increase.