Favor generosity over profit margin
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Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.
The LORD so structured the possession of land and debts that every seven years would cancel all debts and return land inheritance to the original owners. This caused a graduated value for the land, determined by the number of harvests between the day it was purchased and the day it would be returned. This might cause greedy owners to hold their property when the seven years were nearly up and sell when the price would be highest after the seven years were over. Naturally, only the wealthy could afford property after the seven years reset, while the price would become more reasonable as the seven years expire. To guard his people against an inconsiderate hoarding of their land until the maximum price could be obtained, the LORD warned them to give a fair price to buyers at any point along the seven years. If a neighbor who had lost their property needed a home for the last year, the one who obeys this command will sell some of their available property to give them a home until they would be restored to their original land inheritance.
This instruction applies to the housing market today. The market fluctuates back and forth, with the buyer having the advantage for a time, then the seller. A shrewd owner will wait until the chance to gain the maximum amount for their property, but one who disregards the LORD’s command will not only wait, they will turn down those who need their home merely to maximize their personal profit. This command depicts a more neighborly way to treat others, a way which considers one’s own property as a resource to be shared rather than a private possession to be protected and thinks about how this property; or inventory, or product, could benefit others, even if at times it means gaining less than the maximum profit.