Practice 8 of 13
Give
It’s the heart, not the amount.
Key points
- The practice: It’s the heart, not the amount.
- Try this week: Give something away this week that you’ll miss a little: time, money, or something you own.
- The good news: Everything you have was given to you first. Jesus gave himself, all of it, for you.
What Jesus did and taught
Two small coins
Jesus sits near the temple offering box, watching. Rich people drop in large gifts.
A poor widow drops in two tiny coins. It’s all she has.
Jesus calls his friends over. She gave the most, he says.
“This poor widow gave more than all those who are giving”
Mark 12:43
Find it: Mark 12:41–44
Read Mark 12:41–44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. 42 A poor widow came, and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin. 43 He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, 44 for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Why it matters
Jesus noticed the smallest gift in the room.
Giving loosens the grip that money and stuff have on us.
Try this week
Give something away this week that you’ll miss a little: time, money, or something you own.
Low-energy week? Buy someone a coffee, or give a compliment you mean.
A question to carry
What would be hard for you to give?
With kids
Let your kids pick one toy or book to give to someone who needs it.
Go deeper
The good news
Everything you have was given to you first. Jesus gave himself, all of it, for you.
You don’t earn anything by doing this practice. Why it starts with grace