Yesterday was Mother’s Day. My family took me out for lunch and then shopping. I used the day to my advantage – even making them shop at a home store with me. As I was browsing, my daughter and husband mysteriously disappeared. When we left the store, my daughter presented me with a pink-jeweled-butterfly hanging decoration that she purchased with her own money.
It’s not the gift itself that I love so much as the fact that she spent her own money on me. This little jewel butterfly is hanging above my computer so that I can remember the manner in which it was purchased out of love.
Our final stop for the day was Target. My daughter said she had $16 and some change to spend, so we stood in the toy isle picking out what she could afford. She chose three small toys and we headed to check out. Her total came to $16.34, but as she counted her money, she found she only had $13. I told her she needed to choose a toy to put back. To my surprise, she quickly chose one of the toys and payed for the other two.
On the way home, I figured out why she didn’t have enough money to buy her toys. It was because she had spent some of her money on me. Suddenly the gift meant even more to me because I realized she had to sacrifice a new toy to give me my decoration.
I was reminded of the widow in Luke 21 who gave all she had. She was very poor, yet she gave sacrificially. When we give out of our poverty, we display the truest form of sacrificial giving. This widow gave all of her money and in doing so, she chose to live by faith, expecting that God would meet her daily needs.
This story made me think about my own life. Am I giving out of my excess or am I giving sacrificially? When I set aside myself and my needs and wants to help others, then I am giving sacrificially. God wants all of our lives, not just the surplus. He wants us to give so that we have to trust Him to meet our needs. How is God prompting you to give sacrificially – your time, finances, possessions, reaching out to someone? Pray that He will show you where and how He wants you to give.
Scripture: Luke 21:1-4
Prayer: Even thought the widow in Luke only gave a small amount of money, You say that she gave more than those who were wealthy. We want to surrender to Your will and give out of a heart of sacrifice; not out of our surplus. Thank you for giving us the example of this widow. Please show us where we can give sacrificially to our family, our community and our world.
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