[#life Series] Parenting Part 2Sample

Do you know how much this cost?

Teach kids to be generous. A great idea that works well for some is to give your kids their allowance all at once and show them how to set some money aside for giving. You can do that on a yearly or monthly basis. For example, if you used to give your son $10 a week, maybe you could give him $40 at the beginning of the month. It may even help to ease your relationship a little if they don’t have to constantly ask for money every week.

Once you give your kids their allowance for the whole month, ask them to set aside $4 to give to the Lord through your local church. Just $4 out of $40: that is not a bad deal. What are we doing? We are teaching our kids that if they can give $4 out of $40, then it is not as big a deal to give $40 out of $400, $400 out of $4,000 when they get a job, or $40,000 out of $400,000 when the Lord gives them great blessings. They could buy some serious stuff with $40,000 dollars. But because they have gotten used to giving, because they started with $4 out of $40, setting $40,000 aside and giving it to the Lord may have become second nature in their lives.

After they give some of their money to the Lord, let them use what is left as they please. But warn them that if they run out of money, you won’t feel obligated to rescue them.

When they start buying things with their own money and you don’t reach for your wallet every time they want some popcorn and a Coke, sooner or later they will turn to you and blurt out, “Do you know how much this cost?” After that, some will even add, “I am never doing that again.” What has just happened? That kid felt the value of a dollar. Kids can spend your money all day long. But when they get their own money, and they begin to feel the value of a dollar, they can learn to make better decisions. Never let go off the opportunity to teach your kids to set aside some of their money to give to the Lord and to others.