Mark 14:3-7 "While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, 'Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.' And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, 'Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.'"
I don't claim to be a fantastic exegete, so this may apply specifically to Jesus Himself and not have a larger application. But it is, I think, a good response to the idea that you should always finish your dinner because there are starving children in Africa. True enough, children need to be taught to be grateful, but not because others don't have as much (if this were true, the poor would have a right to complain against God), but because everything is a gift from God.
