Three Truths About Giving

September 9

(Luke 21:1-4 NIV) ““As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. {2} He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. {3} "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. {4} All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.””

(1 Kings 17:7-16 NIV)  "Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. {8} Then the word of the Lord came to him: {9} "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." {10} So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" {11} As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread." {12} "As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son,  that we may eat it--and die." {13} Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. {14} For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.'"  {15} She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. {16} For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah."

Love always costs us something. It always involves self-denial and sacrifice. You cannot love without giving. With the widow’s gift at the Temple, Jesus teaches three things. First, God knows what we give. Just as Jesus took note of the widow’s giving and the giving of others, God observes our giving. Second, God cares about what we give. Jesus said the widow’s gift had significance beyond the amount she contributed. She had given “more than all the others”. Third, God cares more about attitude than amount. The widow wasn’t a big giver in terms of amount. She contributed only two small copper coins -- others put in much more. But in faith, she gave “all that she had”. While others dutifully tithed their ten percent, this woman gave one hundred percent. With God, the amount you give is not as important as the amount you have left over. The more we love, the more we give. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day