Helping Your Children Learn to Manage Their Money Well (and honor God too)
Since my children were young, they have wanted money in their pockets. It started out small as they wanted a toy car or baby doll, but as the years have passed and all of my children are young adults and teens, there are many more wants. And not only wants but there are also needsโฆand they are much more expensive. We have done our best to teach our children the importance of hard work and money management principles along the way, and as theyโve gotten older, it has only been confirmed how very important it was. Today, Iโm excited to welcome an expert in this area and author Matt Bell to the blog to discuss this topic. Mattโs brand new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management, is an incredible guide to help you teach your kids how to manage money well.
Itโs been my experience that many people misunderstand biblical financial stewardship. They think of it as a heavy burden. They imagine God saying to them, โHere is some of My stuff. Donโt break any of it or lose any of it.โ That seems to be how the third servant understood his masterโs instructionsโand look what happened to him!
But that isnโt Godโs message. Instead, Heโs saying, โHereโs a portion of what I own. Manage it well, enjoy it, use it to do some good in My name, and as you do, Iโll give you more to manage.โ Stewardship isnโt a heavy burden; itโs an incredible opportunity. Wouldnโt it be wonderful if our kids grew up seeing money that way?
Jesus describes our relationships with God and money by using the story of a wealthy man who entrusts his property to the care of three servants before leaving on a journey: โTo one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went awayโ (Matthew 25:15).
Thatโs interesting already, isnโt it? The master entrusted each of his servants with different talentsโunits of moneyโbased on their current abilities. In the same way, the amount of money or responsibility we entrust to our children should be based on their current abilities. โHe who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his masterโs money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.โ (Matthew 25:16-19)
This parable contains a few of the foundational principles of biblical money management
1. God owns everything.
2. God expects us to do something productive with what He has entrusted to us.
3. As we prove ourselves faithful, God will entrust us with more.
If you feel hesitant or ill-equipped to teach your children about money, youโre certainly not alone. Many parents recognize how important it is that their kids learn about money but are reluctant to be the ones who do the actual teaching. Reasons vary, from a lack of confidence in their own money-management abilities to concerns that they wonโt be able to teach in a way that resonates with their kids. Others would rather outsource the job to their childrenโs schools.
My encouragement to you? Youโre the perfect person for this job. Even if youโre having some financial struggles of your own or havenโt ever studied what the Bible says about money, the fact that youโre reading this shows that you care about helping your kids in this area. Thatโs a huge step in the right direction.
Remember, managing money biblically isnโt just about managing money. Itโs very much about our eternal relationshipsโand our childrenโs eternal relationshipsโwith our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Matt Bell
It is so interesting to me that the topic of money and teaching our children to manage it well is often pushed aside for other subjects like science, math, reading, and more. Yes, those are valuable and useful, but our children will use money every day of their lives. It is never too early to teach and train them in the area of money. Mattโs book is a wholistic approach to helping our children understand not only how to manage money but why it matters in Godโs eyes. This resource will set your children up for successโฆand you might learn and be reminded of a few things along the way too. :)
When your kids develop a healthy relationship with money at an early age, it will help every aspect of their lives to flourish. In Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management, Matt will equip you to teach your kids the purpose of money and how to pursue biblical financial prioritiesโeverything they need to get on the right path for a lifetime of effective, joyful, God-glorifying money management. Includes plenty of examples, suggested conversation topics, and activities to do together with your children.
Disclosure: Excerpted from Trusted (Focus on the Family in partnership with Tyndale) This post is in partnership with Tyndale Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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