Widow's Mite

I have often fantasized about what living a life that is fully consecrated unto Christ would be like; that is, when the entirety of one’s mind and will and time are finally turned over to Him and alll you care about is what he cares about. I imagine being able to be true to that mindset and how "one" you would feel with the Lord. You'd hear his promptings more, you'd do his will and please him more, and you'd see his hand more. 

The Widow that gave all her meager living as an offering to God is an example to me of this: She gave all she had and apparently did so with a willing heart and without zealotry for has the Lord ever received something that was given grudgingly or in an unrighteous manner (think on Cain and Abel)? Yet the Savior, who was standing nearby noticed the offering and told his disciples his praise for her. Notice that just a few verses earlier he told a scribe how important it was to love God, affirming that it is the "first commandment" even the greatest and most important. All this draws my mind to the Lord's statement, "greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends". Here we see that statement closely followed if not fulfilled. I don’t think I can think of greater sacrifices this woman could have made than to give ALL she had to God and do so with the right heart; there’s a chance this might have cost her her life. I feel this is why the Savior used her as an example of giving the right way. 2nd Nephi 25:23 of the Book of Mormon states that “…it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do” and she definitely did all she could; take in mind that those offerings, and thus her offering, were taken and used to do good with.

So how can we do likewise? I’m going to look outside of money at this time; the Lord has given commandments to aid the poor but he’s also given commandment that set limits on generosity, so I’m going to leave it to you to turn to the Lord and find out what you can and cannot give financially. Outside of money and possessions, my mind is drawn to our hearts and minds: they are the only things we can give to the Lord that are truly ours to give. Surely if we were to make a serious effort to love Him first and foremost and trust Him and do what He tells us to do with a smile… could there possibly be a better gift?