Spiritual Giving

Calling all his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:43-44

Lately I have read and heard a lot about grace. I have also heard about works. Oh how people love to quote James 2:17. It makes us all feel as if we have some stake, some control of our salvation. That to me, quite frankly, is laughable but it wasn’t always. For years I tried to think of ways to earn the favor of God and all I can do today is praise Him and thank Him for setting me straight on that one. So, the questions beckons, why do good works? I think I’ve learned that answer from three of my grandchildren, in particular my granddaughter Faith.

Last year our family, as a group, chose to bless the World Vision organization as a part of our Christmas giving. Everyone would contribute and everyone would choose gifts to purchase. We received the catalog and began immediately to put money aside. In an effort to really include the children, their Pop Pop and I gave them chores to do around our house and we paid them in coins. Whether the amount was less than a dollar or several dollars, they got it all in coins.

The first time we paid them I sat down with Joey, Faith and Madelyn and explained that this was their money and that what they did with it was their choice. They could put it all in their banks, all sitting on the floor in front of us, or put some in their banks and some in the envelope we had for World Vision. We talked about the children whose pictures were in the catalog and how their lives differ from ours. They asked questions and then began to sort their coins. Joey split his in half and began to put half in the envelope. Madelyn immediately chose a few coins for the envelope and a few for her bank without seeming to note which pile went where. Faith looked and looked, first at her coins and then at the catalog, back and forth for several minutes. Joey sat with half of his coins still in front of him. He and Faith began to talk about the children in the pictures as Madelyn and I sat by playing with some marbles. I saw Joey take a few more coins and put them in the envelope before putting his last few into his bank.

Faith then separated her coins into a sort of ninety/ten split. At that point I thought my then six year old granddaughter already understood tithing. Boy was I wrong! She slowly and carefully put one coin at time in the envelope, from her big pile. I couldn’t stop myself. My resolve to let them decide how to divide the money failed me. “Faithie,” I said, “you don’t have to give that much each time. You worked for that money.”

“Grammy,” she replied, “I have three houses, here, my Grandma’s and my house. I have toys and clothes in all those houses and I eat all day, as many times as I want.” She gave me a sad little smile and a shrug picking up the rest of her coins and putting those in the envelope as well. “These kids kick around a ball made of garbage, they don’t have houses. They need these coins.” She told me. “I don’t.”

Wow! My heart burst with love and pride and my eyes swam with unshed tears. I hugged her close and told her what a sweet girl I thought she was. Faith knew then and knows now that she will always be taken care of because she has people who love her and can and will provide for her. Beyond that she has a heart that is already directed toward pleasing God.

We don’t need works to prove our faith. We don’t need works to earn salvation. I know how my heart swelled with love and pride when Faith put her coins in the envelope out of pure Christian love and charity. I can only begin to imagine how that kind of behavior pleases the heart of God. That is what works are for, to honor our Father.

My human heart, hard in comparison to the heart of God, wanted only to shower blessings on all three of them at that point. How could it not? I saw how they reacted to blessings. They all shared without counting the cost. I can’t think that God behaves differently. No “good work” will go to Him without returning to us, bigger and so much better. When we, like my grandchildren, give out of love and not as a means to an end, we bring glory to our Father’s name and isn’t that why we’re here?