Mark 12:41-44. The Widow’s Mites

Jesus Christ was watching all the rich people throwing a lot of money into the treasury.  He then noticed a poor widow that put two mites into the treasury.  The significance of her gift is that it was given with a sincere intent.  Her two mites came from her heart, while many of the rich people cast in because they had much.  I bet if they didn’t have that much money they wouldn’t be in the treasury showing off how rich they were.  The poor widow had something more valuable than all the riches thrown into the treasury by many of the rich men.  She had sincere love for the Lord.   She indeed loved the Lord with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength.  This was shown by the simple action of giving all she had. 

The widow gave less money compared to many others, but she gave everything she had, “Even all her living.”  The Lord is not looking for a monetary amount when we give an offering; he is looking at our intentions, in our hearts, the reason why we are giving that offering.  When we give an offering because we love the Lord, we show him our intentions.  Yes, that offering will help many people in need, but the most important reason for giving an offering is simply because we love the Lord.  In 2 Nephi 25:23 we learn that we are saved by grace, after all that we can do.  She was saved by grace because she gave everything she had with a sincere love for the Lord.   


Asides from donating money to show sacrifice and obedience to the Lord, I can do other things that will show the same concept.  For example, at one point I had a job that used to pay time-and-half on Sundays.  However, I gave up the extra money in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.  If the same situation was presented to me again, I would do the same thing because I love the Lord.