I remember putting dollar bills in the offering plate as it was passed down my row of seats. Every Sunday morning, I’d be sitting with my family as we attended church. My mom or my grandma would at some point of the service pass me and my siblings two things: a piece of gum and a dollar bill to place in the offering. It physically showed me where our money belongs: in God’s hands.
Teaching our kids to be financially wise and responsible starts with an example. How we teach the next generation will most likely be caught rather than taught. How can you first be financially wise and responsible so you can be a credible teacher to your kids? You may be thinking of classes you’ve taken, budgets you’ve planned, and charities you’ve given to… Do your kids see who owns your money?
Conversations around money can start with personal testimony. What have you learned about finances from your family, your church, your mentors? What has worked? What did not work? What mistakes do you want your children to avoid when it comes to their finances?
Even if you feel ill-equipped to talk about finances due to your own personal frustrations or mistakes, you are still the perfect teacher for your family! Through loving, honest conversations, your kids can start to develop a mentality towards money that treats resources as God’s that we’ve been entrusted to steward. When we realize this, we treat money with wisdom and responsibility!
Director of Claim Your Campus
Founder of Enlightened Students
Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash