Genesis 14:23

I will not take any thing. Abram, so generous in dealing with his nephew (ch. 13:8, 9), exhibited the same spirit of generosity toward the king of a wicked city. He returned not only all the men, women, and children whom he had rescued, but also all the spoil of war which was in his hand. Though not averse to accepting presents from heathen monarchs (ch. 12:16), the patriarch could not, in marked contrast to Lot, consent to share in the wealth of the impious Sodomites. The only thing Abram could not return was that portion of the spoil his retainers had used as food and what belonged to his confederates.

When Abram refused for himself the spoils offered by the king of Sodom, he demonstrated a loftier hope than that which motivates the children of this world. He was ready to give us his own rights, without hindering others in the realization of theirs. He permitted his own young men to take their subsistence, and his allies their portion. They would receive only what was their due. But Abram, on his part, was not mindful of these things. He stood upon a higher plane, looking for “a better country, that is, an heavenly” (Heb. 11:16), and could afford to think lightly of every earthly good. Though in the world, his hopes and desires were not of it. Children of faith are marked by a certain greatness of mind and purpose that enables them to live above the world.