As I was in the shower this morning, organizing my week and thinking about how I could be successful. I started to think about how God demands greatness and and how magnificently he does everything. My mind started to judge other things that I have seen towards that standard of greatness. Other people, other people’s decisions and other people’s actions. I was feeling pretty good about myself until a small voice in the back of my head whispered “two mites”.
Oh, the two mites! The symbol of giving everything you have to the Lord, and the symbol of God using people who may not seem to match our standards.
21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21 (NIV)
But there we see Jesus using a humble widow to teach us a lesson about what God wants and the standards he has. This entirely changes the way we should look at other people. Yes God has high standards but not the same measures that we use. And boy am I glad for that. For I know I could never match the standard I sometimes set for others.
As you, and I, look at others today and “evaluate “them, remember this widow. Remember her humility and remember how God used her gift. And maybe also think a little about what you are giving.