Giving All You Have

“And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name’” (Luke 1:46-9). 
           
 Have you ever felt that your best is not good enough? Even though you give everything you have, do you ever fear that it’ll never be enough? Your gift is too small, too insignificant—no one will ever notice it, and they’ll never understand how much it cost you.
           
We often feel that no matter how hard we try—no matter our efforts—we come up short. Whatever we can give, whether it be talents, our time, or even our money, we often feel that our offering is cheap.
           
 It’s interesting how the enemy can turn a gracious spirit into a shameful spirit. Satan misconstrues our ideas and manipulates us, causing us to be afraid to give our all for fear that it won’t make a difference.
       
 Nothing could be further from the truth. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Remember the poor woman who gave her two small copper coins as an offering because that was all she had? Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43-4).
It doesn’t matter if you have one talent as opposed to another’s seven talents. It doesn’t matter if what you can bring to the table is small compared to what others have brought. No gift is cheap when you give with your whole heart. Nothing is cheap when it’s all you have.  

Mary was only 14 when the angel Gabriel told her she would bear the Christ. She wasn’t seasoned with years of wisdom; she wasn’t the daughter of a rich man, and she couldn’t provide the Lord with a life fit for a king. But she gave Him what she had. The poor woman at the alter gave Him what she had—just two coins—but Jesus saw the faith in the gift and commended her for it.
When you’re giving God your all, He’ll never turn His nose up and say, “That’s not good enough.” He sees your heart and knows what it costs you to give Him your talents, your time, your tithes. He’ll look at you instead and say, “Thank you, my faithful servant.”