Altruism is the attitude of caring about others and performing acts that help them even though the doer receives nothing in return. It consists of outgoing concern for the well-being of others. The account of the elderly woman planting fig trees demonstrates this principle by showing that necessary work must be done in the present even when the one performing it will not live to enjoy the results, because the benefits will accrue to later generations who receive the fruit. The same principle appears in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, where a traveler interrupts his own journey to aid a severely injured man whom he does not know and who belongs to a group regarded as enemies. The Samaritan applies the final six commandments by treating the victim with compassion, using his own supplies for immediate care, transporting him to safety at personal risk along a dangerous road, and then paying two days' wages plus an open-ended commitment for continued lodging and treatment. These actions illustrate the instruction to esteem others better than oneself and to look out for their interests. God's own conduct supplies the perfect standard of altruism, for He gave His only begotten Son out of love for the world, and the Son came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. This pattern of sacrificial giving constitutes the life of godly love to which believers are called, summarized in the command to lay down one's life for others. Such conduct is required for inheriting eternal life, because eternal life is the life God Himself lives and is obtained only by practicing the way of give rather than the way of get. The exhortation to sow bountifully and to give cheerfully therefore forms the practical means by which this altruistic character is developed in preparation for sharing God's glory.