The Widow's Two Coins: A Lesson in True Generosity - Luke 21:1-4

Today's Gospel offers us a brief but profound scene. Jesus sits near the temple treasury, watching as people come forward with their offerings. The wealthy arrive with impressive sums, their coins clinking loudly as they fall into the collection box. Then comes a poor widow. She drops in two small coins worth almost nothing.

Yet Jesus turns to His disciples and says something unexpected: this woman has given more than everyone else.

How can this be? The math doesn't add up. But Jesus isn't counting coins. He's weighing hearts.

Giving From the Overflow vs. Giving From the Need

The rich donors gave from their surplus. Their gifts, though large, cost them nothing. They would return home to full tables and comfortable lives. Their generosity required no sacrifice, no trust, no leap of faith.

The widow gave differently. Those two small coins were everything she had. Tomorrow was uncertain. Her next meal was not guaranteed. And yet she offered it all.

This is the difference between donation and devotion.

What Are We Really Holding Back?

This Gospel challenges us to examine not just what we give, but what we keep. It's easy to offer God our leftovers—the time we don't need, the money we won't miss, the attention we can spare. But the widow invites us into a more radical kind of trust.

She believed that God would provide. She believed that her small offering mattered. She believed that holding back out of fear was no way to live.

A Question for Today

As we go about our Monday, perhaps we might ask ourselves: Where am I giving from my abundance, and where am I being called to give from my need?

It might not be money. Perhaps it's time spent with someone difficult. Perhaps it's patience when we're exhausted. Perhaps it's forgiveness when we'd rather hold a grudge.

The widow teaches us that the size of the gift matters far less than the size of the love behind it.

Lord, give us the courage to trust You with everything we have and everything we are. Help us to give not from what is easy, but from what is real. Amen.