“On God’s scales, the woman’s gift outweighed the rest. Jesus said she had cast in more than they all did. That is more than saying she had given more than anyone else that day (v. 43). Jesus called His disciples over to Him and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on” (vv. 43-44)…
This widow’s gift amounted to more in the balances of heaven than all that had been put in by the whole crowd. Those two very tiny coins outweighed all the rest. The rich people gave out of their abundance. She gave out of her insufficiency. They gave out of surplus; she gave out of need. Literally, she gave “her whole livelihood.” It has the idea of “the means by which life is sustained.” The widow gave out of true devotion to God. God was the only one who saw her as she placed her tiny coins in the vessel.
It is not how much we give to God, but how much we hold on to for ourselves. Have we given Him our all?
There is more than money involved in this picture of Jesus and the woman in the temple. It is a principle of life. It is the very heart of stewardship based on grace. All I am is His. As a redeemed person God owns it all. There is nothing in my life that does not first belong to Him. “You have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God with your body” (2 Corinthians 6:20). Earlier Jesus told the Corinthians, “you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God” (3:23). You belong to God! If you are owned by Christ, that means your body, your mind, your time, your will, your talent and your material assets all belong to Christ. You belong to another and you own nothing. God owns it all.
The rich had given much, but it really cost them nothing for it was merely the “overflow” of their lavish accounts. The woman’s gift cost her everything, “her whole livelihood” (v. 44). This lesson of Christ is vitally significant for us. God measures our giving not by how much we give, but by how much we have left over after we give! Grace giving is sacrificial giving…
The giving that catches God’s eye is not necessarily great in amount but in percentage… Sacrificial giving has a kind of recklessness about it. It holds nothing back. It has learned to give as God gave to us. The greatest example is His Son (Phil. 2:5-8).
This attitude toward grace giving is at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It bids us come and surrender to Christ and trust Him with every need, every care, and every provision in life. It is total absolute trust in Him. “God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).”
Wil Pounds in “Mark 12:41-44 – The Widow’s Mite” in his Stewardship Principles Series (2008).
I really like how Pounds expressed this statement which is why it’s the title of the post: “The giving that catches God’s eye is not necessarily great in amount but in percentage.” Sacrificial giving both catches God’s attention and is celebrated because it reflects His love and grace to the world.
I offer this truth with a warning label: living this way will cause people to think you are crazy. Why? They think this act left the widow (or would leave them) empty. At the end of the day, I am learning that she had more than anyone else. She had the confidence that God would take care of her like He had for all those years leading up to this day.
Join me in living and giving this way. I believe when we do we also catch our Father’s attention too.