I have
always been a giver and in my early years, I admit that I equated the value of
my gift with the size of the price tag rather than the heart of the giver. As a result, it caused me to give expensive
gifts that I truly could not afford to give.
The end result, was I that I was drowning in debt!
Recently,
through a season of great lack, I finally learned the fundamental truth about
giving. It’s not about the price of the
gift, but rather the COST of giving
it.
We have a
wonderful example in the Word, but if you are not familiar with it, allow me to
introduce you to the Widow’s mite…
Mark
12:41-44 The Voice
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, where people came to
bring their offerings, and He watched as they came and went. Many rich people
threw in large sums of money, but a poor widow came and put in only two small
coins worth only a fraction of a cent.
Jesus
(calling His disciples together): Truly this
widow has given a greater gift than any other contribution. All the others gave
a little out of their great abundance, but this poor woman has given God
everything she has.
As I stated
before, my husband and I are coming out of a season of lack, but while we were
in the midst of it, we were faced with a choice. To give or not to give.
We had an
impromptu offering at the church we were attending. They wanted to be a
blessing to our local High School football team. We felt led to sow, but all that we had was
the change we had scraped together to do a load of laundry. As the bucket approached, I swallowed my pride
and emptied my change purse into an envelope, hoping no one would hear the
coins jingling in the bucket.
On the way
home from that service, I sobbed, feeling we had failed somehow because we had
so little to give.
Long story
short…our gift helped our church reach their goal to be a blessing to that
team. Every cent mattered! I also believe that had we not sowed seed
while we were in need, then we would not be seeing the harvest we have now. We had a choice to eat the seed or sow it. If you have ever farmed before you would
know, 1 ear of corn in your stomach does not satisfy your hunger but 1 ear of
corn in the field can feed you all winter.
And don’t you just love how the gift
this little widow gave, so blessed the LORD that he made note of it and called
his disciples over to teach them that giving is about the heart not the amount?
Jesus was watching and he was not
impressed by the SUM of what was
given but rather the COST. It COST
the widow to put her coins in and I imagine that she did so without much
fanfare. She may have even been like I
was; ashamed that all she had to give was 2 small coins. But yet her giving so overwhelmed the King of
Kings that He had to share it! It also
left such an impression that not 1, but 2 Gospel writers shared her story.
So my friend,
if you feel led, give a gift, but let it be out of the depth of your heart rather
than the depth of your wallet.
