The story of the widow's might, as it is called, has always been especially meaningful to me, as I come from a "pay check to pay check" family. In fact, my whole family is inactive, in part, because of money. After we joined the church in 1998 my parents went to the Church for financial assistance. This became a habit as my parents refused to be accountable for the lifestyle. The church eventually withheld assistance, so my parents became offended and left the fellowship of the church. What a stark contrast to the Widow of this story.
The Widows offering was so amazing because she gave everything; she gave her all. She showed that she loved the Lord with all her heart and with all her faith, as she was commanded to. Her sacrifice was more substantial than that of the pharisees because it reflected her willingness to sacrifice all she had to follow the Savior. The Scribes and Pharisees only sacrificed what was convenient. This underscores that their intentions were disingenuous at best. They were only at the treasury to be seen of others. Outwardly they were seemingly magnanimous, but inwardly they were blatantly avaricious.
This story denotes what the Lord considers as an acceptable offering. The Lord doesn't want our money, he wants our faith. He wants all of our faith and not that which is merely convenient. The amount the widow gave was only equal to what we would pay for a loaf of bread, but it was EVERYTHING she had. This Widow understood that if she gave everything the Lord would provide those things that she needed. This story isn't about paying tithing. This story is trying to teach us the correct manner of sacrifice. Just as the Saviors offering to mankind was complete and infinite, so too must our sacrifice be toward God, complete. Had the Saviors sacrifice been half way we would have been consigned to an "endless torment." Thanks be to God that he sent us his son to show us how to provide an acceptable offering.
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