I read this on Family Life
For they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had.
Luke 21:4 NASB
Let me tell you the true story of a really generous giver.
Christian financial expert Ron Blue and his oldest son ate breakfast together on a regular basis at a local fast-food restaurant. The same place, every week. And each time they went, the same Hispanic woman would wait on them at the counter, always greeting them with a warm smile and a radiant spirit.
The weeks turned into years until one day, spurred by a passing thought of pure generosity, Ron decided to do something unusual in the fast-food world. He decided to give her a tip. Twenty dollars seemed amply big-hearted, but when he reached into his billfold, he sensed the Holy Spirit instructing him to do more. So he put together five twenties, folded them over, and asked the waitress if she would be willing to accept it. She did.
But that’s not the big story I’m talking about.
This woman was a single mom with five kids. She had immigrated to America to provide new opportunities for her family and was working a fast-food counter to keep basic necessities on the table. When Ron gave her the money, she knew immediately what to do with it. Her car needed a new set of tires, and she figured a hundred dollars would probably cover it.
But when she arrived home that night, one of her high-school children told her about a fire at an apartment building nearby, where several of their friends had suffered substantial losses. As the woman told Ron several weeks later, “I knew there was a better use for that hundred dollars. We gave it to a family that had lost everything.”
What we all shouldn’t give for generosity like that.
Discuss
What are your goals for giving?
Pray
Ask God to give you opportunities to be used as a generous giver toward others. Pray it like you mean it. And give like it doesn’t really belong to you in the first place. It doesn’t.