Perhaps the main danger of hypocrisy lies in the fact that, by deceiving others, a person gradually begins to deceive himself. Enjoying the respect of people for his imaginary holiness, seeing this worship of his righteousness, he himself involuntarily submits to the hypnosis of public opinion, is imbued with exaggerated respect for his person, which is so valued by people, and, in the end, begins to take his false righteousness of outward piety for a genuine coin, for the pure gold of holiness. Having reached such a state, a person becomes almost hopeless for the Kingdom of God, for he ceases to understand that in serving God one needs sincerity, inner feeling, and genuine love. Accustomed to being content with only a hypocritical appearance, he becomes incapable of sincere service. Such were the people who crowded around the Lord while He and His disciples sat in front of the treasury of the temple and watched the people put money into the treasury. And here, too, He had before Him a picture of the same hypocrisy and ostentatious piety. Many rich people put in a lot, slowly and solemnly untying their purses, slowly counting the jingling pieces of silver with a feigned carelessness and indifferent look, but keeping a sharp eye from under their brows to see if those around them were looking at them and admiring their generosity. They were worthy disciples of their leaders.

Against the background of this empty conceit and pompous hypocrisy of the scribes and rich visitors to the temple, the figure of the poor widow, sincere, modest and heartfelt in her zeal for God, is so joyfully depicted! Timidly she approached the treasury and furtively, blushing and ashamed of her insignificant gift, she put down the last two mites.

But how great was this gift in the eyes of God!

Calling His disciples, Jesus said to them, "Verily I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who put into the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, all for her food" (vv. 43-44).

This is how the Lord values sincerity, diligence and love.

For us, this is a great lesson and a great commitment. We are often inclined to the excuse that we cannot serve God in any way, because we have neither the means nor the ability to do so. Some are depressed by this thought, while others, on the contrary, find in it, not without pleasure, an excuse for their laziness and carelessness. The example of the poor widow teaches us that even small sacrifices and deeds can be valuable before God if done with heartfelt zeal; and the small size of these sacrifices makes them possible and accessible to everyone. Therefore, no man can excuse himself by saying that he does not have sufficient means to serve God. The gift can be small, and there is no sin before God in it. It is bad when there is no diligence and desire to do something for God in the heart.

"Life," writes Bishop Theophan "is a time of bargaining. Sell what you have, even bast shoes, even bast. Everyone has something. Take a closer look at yourself and determine what you have and what you can acquire, and act not lazily."

"But I am such a small man," Odin will say, "how can I serve the Great God in my insignificance, and what can the Lord require of me?"

But for God, there are no small, insignificant people. All are equally dear to Him, for all are His children. The humble widow, who was poorer than the others and lower in status, was able in her zeal to bring God the richest gift.

"But I can do so little," says another, "only trifling services and petty sacrifices of love are in my power. What do these little things mean to Almighty God?"

But in the spiritual life there are no trifles: everything is important, for even great things are made up of trifles.

That is why a Christian must be very attentive even to the details of his behavior.

Unfortunately, we often do not attach any importance to these trifles of life. Petty quarrels, slight ridicule, casual sarcastic words — all this seems so unimportant. Yet, as one French psychologist, Castew, says, "every considerable success is due to attention to detail. Napoleon won his great victories only because he was extraordinarily attentive to all the details of military preparations, not losing sight of anything down to the last soldier's button inclusive... Very many people grasp with enthusiasm and enthusiasm at any task they like, but they cannot stand the dry, rough work that is required for it. That is why many talents perish without any practical result."

The great is created out of the small, for the great is the result of gradual accumulation, and if you neglect the small, you will never attain the great. The vast Alps are nevertheless composed of grains of sand, and each podvig is created by the accumulation of preliminary small efforts.