At this point in our lives, God has blessed us with one amazing son, and boy do we love being parents! What a blessing children are! Junior Willhoit is just nine months old. He spends his days eating, screaming, crawling (backwards only for now!), playing with his toys, listening to us read to him, and sleeping. Life is simple. When he’s hungry, we feed him. When it’s time for bed, we put him to sleep. He knows nothing of want. He knows nothing of need. He’s just getting used to his surroundings. The last thing on his mind is money! But I’m already thinking about training him in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6). Training him to handle money in a way that honors Christ. So with that in mind, I thought I’d share some of the things I want to teach my kid (and future kids) about money.
What I’m Not Going to Teach Him
I don’t plan on teaching Junior that money is something to be coveted. I’m not going to push him into a high paying career field for money. I’m not going to teach him to idolize the rich by placing them in front of our eyes every night. I’m not going to give him everything he wants so he becomes entitled and doesn’t value God honoring hard work. I’m not going to teach him that the ultimate goal in life is retirement. I’m not going to teach him that more money equals happiness.
Earning Money Takes Hard Work
In today’s world, it seems that many are always looking for the quick buck or easy way out. When that doesn’t work, it’s on to the next get-rich-quick scheme. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever had a friend try to sell you the latest multi-level marketing scam. I can feel you squirming in your chair trying to come up with an excuse not to attend the “meeting” you’ve been invited to!
But contrast those attitudes with what the Bible says:
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19
“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Proverbs 10:4
“The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.” Proverbs 21:25
There are many more Bible verses that we could look at, but the overall theme is clear. Being a diligent, hard worker is necessary to earn a living to provide for yourself and your family. More importantly, honest labor brings glory and honor to Christ!
Love of Money Is Idolatry Against God
The devil is often clever in his repackaging of the same old lies. As Christians in America, we’ve traded in the truth of God’s word for the latest tactics by the television evangelists promising that God desires to make you healthy, wealthy, and wise. To be clear, there are certainly people whom God has blessed financially. But there are many more chasing after wealth in the name of Jesus.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24
Debt Restricts Freedom
I’m not one of the proponents who says debt is always wrong in every circumstance. But the Bible is clear that debt creates a contractual obligation to repay which limits your options in life. Want to take a more rewarding, lower paying job? Probably won’t be an option if you’re too far in debt. For some people who have an addiction to buying and debt, it should be avoided at all costs. For other more prudent Christians, debt should be used only with extreme caution.
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Proverbs 22:7
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8
It Is More Blessed To Give Than To Receive
I don’t know about you, but I always feel much better about giving than I do about any other use of money. Giving shows a heart and mind that are focused on others and not just ourselves. Giving helps us to acknowledge that it is all His money anyways. Giving generously as the Lord provides for you is apart of the Christian life!
“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” James 2:15-16
“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.” Luke 6:30
Bringing It All Together
The main thing I want to teach Junior is that our attitude toward money reveals the condition of our heart. Typing this in a blog post makes it seem much easier than real life. The truth is that handling money is very difficult task for the Christian. On one hand, it is a must have to provide the basic needs of life. On the other, it makes for a cruel task master. In teaching my kids about money, I want to point them to Christ. I want them to use their money to honor Him! I want to refine my own understanding of what the Bible teaches us about money so that I can be a better steward of what He has provided!
How are you teaching your kids about money? Do you think I left anything out?
Oliver, great post. You guys are on the right track here, and I love that you’ve based everything on the Biblical standard. The two other things we teach our kids is that:
1. Work equals money. Don’t expect to be handed anything. For this reason we pay our kids a wage for certain chores, while other chores are simply done b/c you’re part of a family.
2. 10/10/80. Ten percent to God, Ten percent to savings, Eighty percent to spend as you wish. We came from backgrounds where we weren’t taught how to budget, etc., so we want to establish firm rules about tithing and saving right from the get go, so that they are habits when our kids become adults.
Thanks for the great post, Oliver!
Thanks for commenting Laurie!
1. I’ve given much thought to the idea of an allowance or wages for chores. I would agree that it can be dangerous as chores are a part of daily life. Do you mind sharing what the distinction is between a paid and unpaid chore?
2. How have your children handled the 10/10/80 rule? Have you considered a larger allocation to giving and saving, say 20/20/60?
Thanks again for taking the time to read and comment on the blog!
Hi again Oliver! Unpaid chores/paid chores, we just pretty much choose as we see fit, but for example, the kids have weekly duties, just as my husband does at his job. They switch off with cleaning duties every week, and those chores are like jobs where there are certain pre-explained expectations.
When they complete them, they’re paid, every Friday, just like Rick has a regular payday. And, like other jobs, they get an annual raise as well.
But there are also times, more randomly, where we will need something done and those are chores that are expected to be done simply b/c they’re a part of the family.
We’ve done the 10/10/80 rule since they were little, and it’s worked out quite well. They’re used to it b/c it’s the way it’s always been. They don’t even question it or ask to use their savings money. It’s just gone in their eyes, which is a good thing, b/c it’s become a habit now and they’ll (hopefully) carry it on into adulthood.
We haven’t ever considered a larger allocation for giving and saving, simply b/c we don’t pay them very much.
We give our kids a lot less money-wise and material-wise, than most kids get, at least most kids in our world. There are many reasons for this, but one main one is that we want to teach them to be faithful in little so that they can be trusted with much.
We are teaching them entreupeneurialship (SP?) skills and encouraging them to find ways to make their own money, (a “for instance”: our 13 year old daughter published her first book nearly 2 years ago and the 2nd and 3rd in the series will be released this spring), and thus if they are successful in their careers, we want them to be well-equpped to handle that success in a Godly way and be good stewards over what they earn.
Hope this helps
.
Thanks Laurie for the great thoughts! A lot of wisdom is those two comments!
I’m thankful that my parents gave me a pretty good financial education. Not perfect, but pretty good. And now that I have a four-year-old and a two-year-old, I’m starting to think about the type of education I give them.
My biggest fear is if I can’t provide for them the fancy schmancy lifestyle (all the clothes, games, toys) that they see others getting, then they’ll end up envying them and idolizing money. We’ll have to go through a lot of verbal instruction, I’m sure.
Thanks for commenting Loren! I was fortunate as well to grow up with pretty frugal parents who talked with me about money. Like you, the education wasn’t perfect, but I’d assume it was far better than what most grow up with. I’m just getting started with this parenting gig, but I’m sure if your two children see you and your wife being content and thankful for what the Lord has provided, it will be easier for them to be content and thankful in their own lives.