It certainly could be. I think what Paul was getting at in writing what he did was this, as an example. I work with handicapped children. A large portion of the kids that I see come from poor families and while I'm in their homes I see so many things that I would like to do for them, buy for them, but I have a problem. I don't have enough money to do what I would like to do. What if I decided to go ahead and spend what money I do have on helping these families, at the sacrifice of my own family. Once I do that, now my family becomes a burden to someone else (maybe). I think the principle that Paul was teaching was to make sure that you have taken care of matters within your own home before you start looking to meet the needs of others. On the other hand, folks have to be careful not to carry this to the extent of becoming selfish thus the "love thy neighbor as thyself" comes into play, however it also means much more than just monetary. America has poor in her own country, that are being neglected, but we will travel around the world meeting the needs of others, who in the long run, don't appear to appreciate what has been done for them. More like it's expected.
