If a couple doesn’t have a proactive training process for their children’s morals and values, then they probably won’t be doing much to train their children to handle finances in a right way either. It’s probably because the couple themselves still have a great deal of work to do in both areas. So learn together. That’s what our family has done.
Cathy and I realized that, although we might receive higher marks on the financial stewardship report card than some people, we did not do a good job of teaching our children about it. It came to a head one day when our oldest was about seven years old. She thought that if you needed something, all you had to do was go to the ATM and get money out. She was shocked to hear that you actually first had to put money in the bank in order to get it out.
Here are a few questions to consider:
- Does our family have a stewardship philosophy? Can our children articulate our family’s stewardship agenda?
- Do our children know the power of giving?
- Do they understand the emptiness of materialism and the benefits of delayed gratification?
- Have we given them charge of some area of their financial lives to teach them personal responsibility? (Obviously, this must be age-appropriate.)
Teach Your Children About Stewardship
It is never too early to introduce the biblical concept of stewardship to children. As children move from dependence on us to independence, the lessons they learn about stewardship will help prepare them for adulthood in one of the most important ways possible. If you haven’t done much work with your children in this area, then there is no better time to start than now.
What is your family’s stewardship philosophy? One family we know discussed it with their kids and came up with this paragraph:
Our material possessions are actually on loan to us from God. We acknowledge His generous love and gifts to us. We will be a family who looks for ways to give generously, stays out of debt except for our house and car, and realizes that everything we have is on loan from God anyway.
Another family borrowed a quote they ran across: “When it comes to money, small things are small things, but faithfulness with small things is a big thing.” They went on to write, “We will faithfully look for ways to faithfully give back to God.”
Two questions for you to ponder:
How are you doing with teaching your family good stewardship?
What can you do to be more proactive?
The above content was republished with permission from Home Word.
AUTHOR:
Jim Burns
Jim Burns is the President of HomeWord. He speaks to thousands of people around the world each year. He has close to 2 million resources in print in 30 languages. He primarily writes and speaks on the values of HomeWord which are: Strong Marriages, Confident Parents, Empowered Kids, and Healthy Leaders.