Did Jesus Really Say It’s Better to Give God a Small Donation?

In Luke 21:1-4, Jesus watched people offering gifts to the temple treasury and said a widow who put in two of the smallest coins gave a better offering than all the rest.

Why?

Because she was poor and gave all she had while the others gave a small amount from their greater wealth.

We don’t need to be rich to be generous or poor to be stingy. Generosity and stinginess flow from the heart, not the amount of money we have.

Nor does Jesus judge generosity by the amount we give. He judges it by the amount we keep.(1)

Generous people:  

1. Give more than asked – e.g. donations for the temple (Exodus 36:1-7).

2. Respond to needs – e.g. Jerusalem believers (2 Corinthians 8-9).

3. Give more than money – e.g. the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

4. Are generous to those who are undeserving– e.g. Joseph to his brothers (Genesis 50:19-21; Luke 6:35).

5. Believe God will use what they give – e.g. the small boy with fish and bread (John 6:5-13).
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(1) When Less is More
(2) I got some of my material from 10 Examples of Generosity in the Bible – an excellent article worth reading.