The Widow's Mites

This week has been so insightful in that I have been thinking about the importance of sacrifice and giving all that we have to God and His cause. I read Matthew 19-20, Mark 10, Luke 15-16, and John 12, and what caught my attention, among other wonderful things was the story of the widow's mites as found in Mark 12:41-44, which reads:

41 ¶And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

There are many arguments, especially online, for the specific amount of money that the widow gave to the temple, but I personally think that more important than how much she gave, as the Savior emphasised, is the fact that she gave "even all her living", while the other people gave of their abundance. Heavenly Father does not need our money for His kingdom to go forth, similar to how He could make the rocks praise His name (Luke 19:40), yet He wants us to show our love for Him by giving all that we have to ensure that we are an integral part of the Kingdom rolling forth and filling the Earth. Today, as in ancient times, faithful members of the church give money that is used to building new church buildings, temples, print scriptures and magazines to spread the gospel, to assist the poor, to help fund the missionary effort, and other things that help ensure the work goes forward to all the Earth.

Besides giving money (which is a big deal for many, myself included), there are other ways that we can give all that we have that also help to show to the Lord that we love Him and want to contribute to the growth of His kingdom. Here is a partial list that I have come up with as I thought about ways that I need to improve in how I give of myself (in no particular order of importance):

• Home teaching/visiting teaching

• This is an area that I seriously lack, but that I have been working very hard to make sure that those families who have been assigned to my care are, well, taken care of, and that their needs are met. This seem to be a challenge for most members of the church, and to me, it is difficult to take time out of Sunday, time away from my family and time that I don't have during the week between school and family, Sunday seems like an awesome day to relax at home with the family, but I better than that, and that there are no commandments given without a blessing being attached to it, so I am going to continue to try and do better as a home teacher.

• Serving in church positions

• Church callings take a lot of time and effort, and in my case, I am the ward chorister, ward choir director, and primary teacher. The teaching is easy, but aside from enjoying singing, leading music has never been my strong point (ask the ward members as I occasionally miss the beats and lead in the wrong pattern...), but I know that the Lord asked me to use my talents to help bring the Spirit into the meetings, and it is something that I take very seriously and do my best every time.

• Giving of our time to our family

• This goes without saying, that our families are the most important asset we will ever possess, and I value my family more than anything I have, but it becomes easy to unknowingly neglect them at times. This morning, for example, I don't have any classes on campus and the children are home during summer vacation. My oldest son was feeling bored and frustrated for losing computer and Wii time through some poor choices. I was very busy and could have easily dismissed his feelings and frustrations so I could focus on finishing my assignments and catching up on studying, but I have been working so hard lately to give more of my time to my children (time that I don't have much of at the moment), so I closed my computer and took the time to talk to him and help him understand the importance of being obedient and how that is the only way that he can ever be happy. It was worth taking the time because I can see a difference in his attitude as I finish writing this post.

My challenge to myself and to whoever is reading this is that we find in our lives ways that we can better be like the widow, who gave what to some seemed to be insignificant, but to us and Heavenly Father, is more than we could ever give, and for that He blesses us. Elder James E. Talmadge explained it better:

“Whether it be the gift of a man or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent, is always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison that best may be” (The House of the Lord, rev. ed. [1968], 3).