Mark 12:44

For they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Christ thus explained why the widow's gift was "more" and all of the others "less." Theirs were easy gifts; hers was a hard one. It may be doubted if any passage in the whole New Testament has been any more widely misused than has this one. One often hears people speak of giving "the widow's mite"; but what is evidently meant is that they are giving the amount of the widow's mite, and not that they are giving all of their living, as did she.

All her living ... Whether this means merely all of her income, or the totality of her possessions, the example she set is immortal. She trusted God, relying upon him utterly to supply her need. She brought to the treasury a heart at one with the Eternal, submissively accepting a status of penury and want, and yet not making her poverty an excuse for denying the gift that the Father requires of all.