Daily devotional · November 12
The Widow's Small Offering
“Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.””
Jesus sits watching people drop gifts into the temple treasury. Wealthy givers put in large amounts, and then a poor widow adds two tiny coins. Jesus tells His followers that she gave more than all the others, because they gave from what they could spare and she gave from what she needed. God measures generosity by sacrifice and trust, not by size. This is freeing if you feel you have little to offer. It is also searching if you have plenty and give only what will not be missed. Neither guilt nor comparison is the point. The point is a heart that holds loosely. Today, consider what you could give that would cost you something real, and it need not be money: your time, your attention or your patience. Choose one small gift, offer it quietly, and trust that God sees what others may never notice.
Prayer
Jesus, teach me to give from the heart and not just from the surplus. Receive my small offering. Amen.