Have you ever thought that what you had to offer God was embarrassingly small or not enough? Maybe you feel that someone else can do it better than you. Maybe you feel unqualified. Maybe you feel like you’ve messed up so much in your life that God could never use you. If so, then stop comparing yourself to what others have to offer. God doesn’t look for the big givers. He isn’t interested in the best talent or the biggest wallet. He isn’t looking for the pastor with the best catchy phrases and a big following. He isn’t looking for the woman who writes the best selling Bible studies. Certainly God uses these people and they do a great work for God. But more than anything, God desires the person who is sold out to Him. He best uses the person who sacrificially surrenders their all to Him. Certainly “giving all” can be big gifts, but sometimes it’s just two small mites.
A mite was a tiny copper coin and the smallest in Jewish currency. The two of them together made up a penny. As Jesus watched the people in the temple, this old widow woman caught His attention as she dropped her two tiny mites in the temple coffer. For this widow woman who caught Jesus’ attention, she may have thought all she had to give was two tiny cooper coins, but in doing so, her story was recorded in both Mark’s gospel and Luke’s and from her sacrificial gift, we can learn three things.
The first thing we see is that her sacrificial gift caught Jesus’ attention. God always sees what man overlooks and He thought her gift was important enough to add to His Word (not once, but twice!) for all the generations that followed. As others gave “out of their abundance,” their coins would have made a lot of noise as they were dropped into the coffers. The widow’s mites hardly made a sound at all – yet all of heaven heard it. What no one else noticed, caught the eye of God.
Second, the widow teaches us that God evaluates things differently than man does. Her two mites only added up to a penny, but Jesus said she had given more than the people who dropped lots of coins in the coffer. Why? Because her gift was sacrificial – it was all she had. It was her entire livelihood. The rich, however, still had plenty of money left after they gave to God. They had not sacrificed anything in what they gave. The widow gave God her everything, trusting Him to supply and meet her needs. In Proverbs 21:2, we read that God weighs our hearts. In Jeremiah 17:10, God says that he searches the heart and tests the mind. You see, God doesn’t “need” anything we have to offer. He doesn’t need our money, our time, our talents, or our service. What we offer Him, should be out of a thankful heart for what He has done for us. God knows what motivates us to give. If its done out of duty or responsibility, it doesn’t honor and glorify Him. If it’s done to point attention to ourselves, then we get the glory rather than God. But when we give sacrificially out of our love for Him, then He receives the honor and glory.
The third thing we can learn from the widow is faith. One might ask, “whatever could one buy with just two mites?” Some of those rich givers that day might have sneered at her tiny offering, had they noticed. To the widow, it didn’t matter. She gave her all out of her faith that God would use it and that God would meet all of her needs. The two tiny cooper coins that added up to a penny was her entire livelihood and she chose to give it to God because she had faith that He would accept her gift, use it to glorify Him, and that He would meet her needs.
I’m sure she had no idea that her sacrificial gift would be recorded in two gospels that became part of our Bible and that God would use it to teach us that 1) God sees what others overlook, 2) God evaluates things differently than man, and 3) that we can give what we have in faith that God will use it for His glory. So if you feel that God has been calling you to give or serve in some way, but you felt that what you had to offer Him was too small, insignificant, or not good enough, then know that you have exactly what God is looking for. Give him your all and He will receive the glory. Offer all that you have and just watch what God will do with your sacrificial gift.
God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel
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Looking for a speaker for your next ministry event? Julia is now booking for 2019 and 2020 Christian events for women’s and couples’ ministries for both small and large events.
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Julia is CEO of Wellspring Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and couples develop a passionate relationship with God. A public speaker, conference trainer, event planner, and blog writer, Julia is a two-time graduate from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor in Psychology and a masters in Professional Counseling. Saved as a child and raised in church and in a Christian home and private Christian School as a Pastor’s kid, Julia has taught Sunday school, led music, played the piano, served as Children’s Director, and engaged her gifts in many other areas of church life. Previously employed with the Florida Baptist Convention, Julia organized events and led conferences for church ministry assistants.
Julia enjoys sharing her journey as a growing Christian with others looking for a deeper connection with God. Through Bible study and her own life experiences, God has given Julia a passion to help couples understand God’s design for marriage while they learn to place God first in their marriage, cultivate meaningful relationships, build intimacy, and address the tougher issues that come in every marriage so that they can experience a marriage that honors and glorifies God. Julia also loves mentoring, teaching, and working with women to help them learn to live as Godly women.
With her history and experience growing up in both small and large churches, Julia enjoys bringing top level quality events to churches of all sizes. Her father largely pastored small churches and therefore she understands that these vital parts of the believing community need to be good stewards of the resources God provides them with. This knowledge inspires her passion for being available with a fresh perspective for those who want to provide their congregations with meaningful spiritual growth opportunities.
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