The Story of the Widow's Mite
The sound of her coins falling into the Temple pots
call to us through the centuries. Jesus said, 'This poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.'
She gave all she could (sacrifice). She gave it gladly, with love (grace). Her example has never been forgotten.
Grace is the word used for God's unrestricted, unmerited and unconditional free-flowing love. When you are able to align your heart, mind and soul to experience God's Grace, it is a profound experience that can colour the way you view everything and everyone. When Grace flows in and through you, good works will naturally result. Grace is like a river. It flows without our help or intervention and it must flow. It should not be dammed up.
While it is a blessing to receive Grace, we cannot simply store it up in ourselves like pennies in a jar. We must let it flow through us like water. We must pass it along. Christianity calls us to live in and for the people around us. Grace, God's enormous unmerited love, gives us the energy and inspiration to do that.
Accept the flow of God's Grace and see where it takes you.
There is really nothing attractive to most of us about the word 'sacrifice'.
The images associated with it are not encouraging - death on the battlefield, poverty, loss, giving up. When we sacrifice, we have less and someone else has more. Normally we are about having more, not less! But that's the gift we get from sacrifice. Less is, in fact, more.
Sacrifice - giving away - is the key to growth. You become more by giving more. Not just money but also time and energy. Being a Christian is about growing and becoming more through our time here on earth.
'Sacrifice' is another word for offering up what is valuable to us. We don't call it sacrifice when we give up something that's not really important to us. That's just emptying our pockets or spending an evening with friends.
We definitely value time, energy and money.
So, the things that we offer have to have the most profound effect on us. It's those things that we have to give away if we really want to grow as disciples of Jesus. Because that, in the end, is what matters most to us.
It's tough, but that's the art of giving.
