by What if the most powerful gifts aren’t the expensive ones, but the small ones given with great love?
When Little Things Make Big Differences
Early 1900s New Orleans. A beat-up old cornet in a pawn shop window. A struggling teenage boy walks by it every day, dreaming of making music but unable to afford it. His employers advance him a few dollars from his paycheck, and he finally buys that worn instrument.
That boy was Louis Armstrong.
Or consider a poor family in Northern Mississippi who saved up to buy their son an old six-string guitar. That gift helped launch the career of Elvis Presley.
Then there’s the 10-year-old girl who begged her mother for a typewriter so she could write her stories. Her mother hesitated—what 10-year-old would actually use it long-term? But she bought it anyway. That girl, Octavia Butler, grew up to be one of the most influential science fiction authors of our generation.
The right gift given to the right person at the right time can change the world—no matter how big or small it is.
The Kingdom Economics of Small Things
Jesus told a story about a mustard seed—one of the smallest seeds that grows into a plant so large that birds can nest in its branches. He was using hyperbole to make a point: in God’s economy, it’s not about the size of the gift, but the size of your trust in God and love for others.
Consider these biblical examples:
The Widow’s Oil (2 Kings 4:1-7)
A desperate widow faced losing her children to creditors. When the prophet Elisha asked what she had, her answer was heartbreaking: “Nothing but a jar of oil.”
But that “nothing” was enough. Elisha told her to borrow empty containers from neighbors and start pouring. The oil didn’t stop flowing until every vessel was full. She sold the oil, paid her debts, and saved her family.
Investment: One jar of oil
Return: Financial freedom and her children’s lives
The Widow’s Coins (Luke 21:1-4)
Jesus watched wealthy people make a show of their temple offerings. Then he noticed a poor widow quietly drop in two tiny coins—everything she had to live on.
Jesus said she gave more than all the wealthy donors combined, because they gave from their surplus while she gave from her poverty.
Two thousand years later, we’re still talking about this woman’s generosity.
Investment: Two pennies
Return: An eternal example of true generosity
The Boy’s Lunch (John 6:1-14)
When 5,000 people gathered to hear Jesus, the disciples panicked about feeding them. A boy offered his small lunch: five barley loaves and two fish.
“What is this among so many people?” they wondered.
It was enough. Everyone ate their fill, and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.
Investment: One sack lunch
Return: A miracle that fed thousands
The Question That Holds Us Back
“Can such small gifts really make a difference?”
I believe this question stops many of us from being as generous as God calls us to be. We think:
- “I don’t have much to give”
- “We’re all struggling right now”
- “My little contribution won’t matter”
But Jesus promises: “Give, and it will be given to you—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38).
This isn’t prosperity gospel. God doesn’t promise material wealth. But he does promise that our generosity—whether in relationships, support systems, or eternal treasures—will be returned to us.
The Little Way
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, known as “The Little Flower,” grew up as a spoiled rich girl who threw tantrums. But when God got hold of her life, she developed what became known as “The Little Way.”
She planted flowers everywhere and gave them to people. She wrote letters that healed spirits. Her approach was simple: doing little things with great love.
As she put it: “Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”
Little things with great love:
- Holding the door and smiling
- Washing dishes so your spouse doesn’t worry about them
- Offering to babysit
- Dropping coins in the collection plate
- Growing flowers and making bouquets for others
Jesus Modeled the Little Way
After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said: “So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I’ve given you an example that you should do just as I have done for you” (John 13:14-15).
Notice: Jesus didn’t ask them to wash his feet in return. Love doesn’t keep score. When we do little things with great love, we don’t expect payback. We pass it forward.
And Jesus reminds us that when we serve others, it’s like serving him directly:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink… Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35, 40).
What Do You Have in Your Hand?
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” You walk past acorns on the sidewalk without thinking—but each contains the potential for an entire forest.
God asks the same question he asked Moses: “What do you have in your hand?”
Maybe it’s:
- A text message to send someone
- A meal to share
- A smile for a stranger
- A few dollars in your pocket
- A skill you can offer
- Time to listen
You can’t do everything, but you can do something.
Plant seeds of kindness. Pay for someone’s meal at the drive-through. Hold doors. Ask how people are doing and really care. Send that text to someone God has placed on your heart.
Do little things with great love. That’s how God changes the world—not always through big, extravagant miracles, but through his people doing small acts of service with great love.
What small thing is God calling you to do today?
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Daniel N. Lee 