A Heart to Give

Do you give with all your mite?

The Gospels of Mark and Luke both relay an incident involving a widow’s gift to God. She didn’t give much – just two mites (coins) – or did she?

One day, Jesus was sitting with His disciples near the temple treasury watching people dropping money into the treasury boxes.  The rich were contributing large sums of money, making sure that their offerings were being noticed by those around them.  Silently through the throng of people, a widow approached the treasury box and deposited two small copper coins.  

These were the smallest denomination of coins. The widow put her coins into the box, and Jesus called His disciples to Him and pointed out her action: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on”(Luke 21:1–4).

Often people like to be noticed for the big things, the fancy cars, the elaborate houses or the newest technology, but Jesus sees the heart.  In the story of the widow, Jesus saw what no one else did: He saw the humble gift of a poor widow. This was the gift that Jesus thought worthy of comment; this was the gift that the disciples needed to be aware of. The other gifts in the treasury that day made a lot of noise as they jingled into the boxes, but the widow’s mites were heard in Heaven.  Hers was a true sacrifice.

God doesn’t look on the outside but rather at the heart.  The widow’s giving was judged by others as unwise or too paltry to count, but God saw that she was really putting her trust in Him and giving Him her life. God welcomes giving that comes from deep sacrifice, not gifts that are simply the leftovers of abundance. 

The widow gave without hesitation and this story was a great segway to demonstrate that God was about to do the same. God was about to give all of humanity a supreme gift that came with great sacrifice – The life of His only Son.

Chaplain Phil