There are few better ways...
Illustration
There are few better ways to do a spiritual self-analysis than by looking at your checkbook. What does a review of your checkbook stubs say about you? What percentage of your income are you turning back to God? What are you spending your money on? How is your income being used to benefit others?
The widow's gift exemplifies the fact that real giving must be sacrificial. What matters most to God is not the size of the gift but the sacrifice it took to give it. Genuine generosity gives till it hurts. For many of us it is a real question if our giving to God's work is any sacrifice at all. Few people will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God. It may well be a sign of the lukewarm nature of the church that gifts have to be coaxed out of people, and often they will not give at all unless they get something back in the way of food or entertainment. There can be few of us who are able to read the story of the generous widow without experiencing some shame regarding our support of God's work.
-- Van Der Wall
The widow's gift exemplifies the fact that real giving must be sacrificial. What matters most to God is not the size of the gift but the sacrifice it took to give it. Genuine generosity gives till it hurts. For many of us it is a real question if our giving to God's work is any sacrifice at all. Few people will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God. It may well be a sign of the lukewarm nature of the church that gifts have to be coaxed out of people, and often they will not give at all unless they get something back in the way of food or entertainment. There can be few of us who are able to read the story of the generous widow without experiencing some shame regarding our support of God's work.
-- Van Der Wall
