There is a true story of a poor widow who gave two mites to the church treasury. The mite was the least valuable coin in circulation in Judea. They amounted to about 12 minutes of an average daily wage. Jesus was sitting near the treasury and took notice of this widow’s gift to the church. Although, these two coins were of little monetary value Jesus said she gave more than the rich who gave moderately or even liberally that day.
The story of the widow and the two mites is not given to encourage us to give away all or nearly all of our resources. It does teach that whatever we offer to God, wether it be to the church or to the poor, it should be calculated not by it’s monetary value. And in God’s appraisal the small gifts we offer, if done out of the sincerity of our heart is more worthy of God’s approval than if we offer a thousand-times more for some other reason than deep-seated sincerity.
This widow must have been a person of uncommon faith, who rather than come with nothing in her hand into the presence of God chose to give all she had, in which she could have felt justified not giving anything. And likewise the chief requirement for all the People of Faith in every age is sincerity of heart coupled with some measure of self-denial.