Giving out of poverty
What are you willing to forgo to enhance someone else’s world? Sacrifice might be the most honorable trait. This is how Jesus measures your generosity. This is hard in America.
Here is where I’d normally say something like…”You need to make sure you’re family is fed, housed, and clothed. That’s your first priority – then you can be outwardly generous.” Or…”Don’t be generous to a fault.”
Then I read this passage in Mark:
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
If I’m honest, I give out of my wealth. I believe most of us would say the same. Notice Jesus doesn’t condemn the rich contributors. Amazing things have been accomplished through the generosity of wealthy men and women. But neither does Jesus condemn the widow for giving all she has. In fact, He says she’s given more. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the gift. I have a long way to go. My guess is we all do.
