God Wants Our Hearts, Not Our Handbags
The following reflection was extracted from the Stewardship Study Bible published by Zondervan.
In Mark 12 we read that Jesus was sitting in the temple opposite the place where the offerings were being placed. He was watching as people put their money into the temple treasury. He had just warned the disciples about the Pharisees, criticizing them for being ostentatious in their dress and manner. Even their religion was superficial rather than substantial: "They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers" (v 40). Jesus then observed (ironically) one of those poor widows putting her copper coins into the temple treasury; the comparison he made drove home this point: It's not how much you give, but why you give. It's not how many empty prayers you spin, but how much you trust God. Christian financial planner, author and CEO Ron Blue summarizes the essence of this story.
If we want to be commended by God, must we literally give all that we have? No, and yes. No, we don't need to fork over our life savings. God does not need our money. True, he commands—and expects—us to give, but our money is not what he's really after . . . God asks you to give because he wants your heart. Your behavior says a lot about what you truly believe. How do you feel about giving? Do you really believe God loves a cheerful giver and that he will reward your generosity? . . . Are you willing to give him your heart?
American religious leader and author Ellen G. White (1827-1915) observes how much the poor widow's offering was really worth.
A heart of faith and love is dearer to God than the most costly gift. The poor widow gave her living to do the little that she did. She deprived herself of food in order to give those two mites to the cause she loved. And she did it in faith, believing that her heavenly Father would not overlook her great need. It was this unselfish spirit and childlike faith that won the Savior's commendation. When Jesus said of the widow, she "put in all she had to live on," His words were true, not only of the motive but of the results of her gift. The "two very small copper coins” have brought to God's treasury an amount of money far greater than the contributions of those rich Jews. The influence of that little gift has been like a stream, small in its beginning, but widening and deepening as it flowed down through the ages. Her example of self-sacrifice has acted and reacted upon thousands of hearts in every land and in every age. It has appealed to both the rich and the poor, and their offerings have swelled the value of her gift. God's blessing upon the widow's mite has made it the source of great results—every gift bestowed and every act performed with a sincere desire for God's glory. It is linked with the purposes of Omnipotence. Its results for good no man can measure.
Faith & Finance Perspective
Have you ever considered the cumulative impact of the widow’s sacrifice? In monetary terms, her gift amounted to pennies. But when you consider how many people through the ages have been moved by her scriptural account—and the sum total of their inspired generosity—the amount is staggering. And if dollars translate to souls saved, how many more will be gathered around the throne because of this widow’s sacrifice?
It's not about what was in her handbag. It’s about what was in her heart: Gratitude for God’s past faithfulness and trust in His future provision. It earned her the Savior’s highest commendation and a seat of enormous influence in His eternal Kingdom. Imagine how He might also multiply the acts of our surrendered hearts.
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings [b] for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
- Luke 21:1–4