This is from the story "The Gift of The Magi". How are Jim and Della the wisest?

Somewhere on the internet is a person reading "The Gift of the Magi." It is a wonderful thing to hear. He has just the right kind of voice. It sounds like someone's grandfather reading to his grandchildren.

And because it is so well done, we don't question the conclusion that O'Henry came to. Those two are madly in love. Their first thoughts were not for themselves. Jim thought only about Della and Della certainly thought of no one but Jim.

Isn't that what all of us should do? Not seek love, but give it. But what is love? Especially in this story? It is the wisdom to know that life will be most satisfying if one seeks not what is good for oneself, but what is good for someone else. What we give is given without thought or consideration for oneself.

Della spent a whole day running around trying to make her 1.87 into more than 10 times that amount. All she thought about was that 1.87 wasn't nearly enough to get Jim anything, or anything she thought worthy. And that 1.87 was really hard come by.

And without too much consideration, Jim did exactly the same thing. He didn't think of himself. He thought of her.

All of this is obvious. O'Henry takes a great deal of time emphasizing it over and over again. And because he does, he has delivered a sermon on what the nature of love is, not by telling us anything much, but by making the characters tell us for him. They act it out. We're just observers.

Wisdom comes not from memorizing a huge number of sayings or being able to calculate without any machine. Wisdom comes from acting in the better interests of others. We learn simple life long lessons by acting outside of ourselves. That is the powerful theme of the "Gift of the Magi."