I’ve been reading several articles on teaching children about money. At first glance, this would be a secular task. After all, principles of saving, interest, spending all seem pretty secular. Seems like the only important thing to teach our children is to make sure they give that tithe to God, and all the rest is secular. Aha! To the Christian everything is sacred. I Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
First, I want to consider my goals and later I’ll think through how I’ll reach them.
- I want my children to understand that everything we own belongs to God. This includes their toys and my special dishes that we share each week at Bible study, but it also includes all the money we find, earn, save, or spend. This is probably the most important concept for them to learn, and will affect much of their attitudes about money.
- I want my children to learn to be wise stewards of money, including putting money to work in the best possible way. (Parable of the laborers in Matthew 20)
- I want them to love to be generous and giving, and understand biblical principles of giving. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
- I want our children to see money as a tool to do God’s Work, and not an end goal in itself. (Proverbs 23:4)
- I want our children to be content with whatever they have (1 Timothy 6:6-10)
Can you think of any more principles or verses?
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