Money.
In one way or another, it touches nearly every area of our lives.
As parents, we have an exciting opportunity to help our children learn how to manage money. Teaching them how to handle it properly, in age-appropriate ways and settings, can give them a head start for the future.
My daughters and I recently studied a chapter on "Learning How to Use Money" from our morning Bible study Wise Up: Wisdom in Proverbs. Here are seven principles we discovered from the book of Proverbs.
1. Honor God first with your money by giving to Him. "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10) We're training our daughters to set aside at least a tenth of the money they earn to give as a tithe to the church. At times, they also choose to give additional amounts to missions or other projects.
2. The most important things in life can't be bought with money. "How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!" (Proverbs 16:16) Salvation, peace, friends, wisdom - the list of items that can't be purchased is quite long!
3. Save money; don't spend all you have. "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up." (Proverbs 21:20) We're also training our daughters to save part of the money they earn. A portion is for short-term savings, such as a toy or a piece of jewelry. They also have long-term savings to which they don't have regular access.
4. When you take on debt, you acquire a master and become a slave. "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." (Proverbs 22:7) You become a servant in the sense that you must work in order to pay back the money owed.
5. Money is not a certain thing; it can be gone in a moment. "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." (Psalm 23:4-5) Our trust is to be in God and His provision, not the money we have in the bank.
6. Give, whenever it's in your power to do it. "He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." (Proverbs 28:27) Be attentive to needs that God places before you and be willing to meet them.
7. Have a plan for your money. "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." (Proverbs 10:4-5) Our oldest daughter has already begun a form of budgeting. For example, she has an envelope marked "Youth Activities" into which she periodically puts money for upcoming events.
It was a great refresher course for me to discuss these ideas with my girls. What other money lessons would you like your kids to learn?
Tracey, I love this. We've been teaching our daughters about budgeting for years through the give, save, spend jar method. And they have both short term and long term savings. I really love these scriptures to reinforce those teachings and will certainly use them as we go forward with the girls. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janet! I really enjoyed doing this study with the girls and showing them these financial principles from the Bible. It helps to reinforce what we've been teaching them over the years. We have a natural spender and a natural saver, so it's interesting to work through handling money with these two different personalities!
DeleteHope your weekend is wonderful as well!
These are great principles! We need to start working with our children on how to manage their money. Thanks for the helpful nudge!
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