I bring this up because I have heard parents say that they have concerns about teaching their children too much about money. In other words, they do not want it to be too much of a focus in their lives. I understand the fear of making money too much of a central theme in a child's life. I am certainly empathetic to that position. Consider this, parents will spend enormous amounts of resources teaching their kids sports. However, less than 1% of those kids will ever do anything more than recreational activity with sports. Even those who do go on to professional careers in sports will be faced with dealing with vast amounts of money.
Let's be honest here, there is no getting away from money. We can either teach our children how to manage it responsibly, or hope they pick it up along the way as adults. Personally, I am not crazy about just hoping that my kids learn about money, no more than I am just hopeful they will learn about good nutrition. Think about it like this, we do not want our children over obsessing about food, but does that mean we never teach them about good nutrition?
I believe one of the reasons we have fears about the topic of money is because so many of us do not fully understand it ourselves. How many of us understand completely the kreb cycle and it's function in our cardiovascular health? Probably not that many of us, but I bet we still teach our children about the importance of exercise. Remember, money will be a part of your children's life ... no different than nutrition or exercise. Teach them principles about saving, giving, and working hard and smart. Your children need you to prepare them for life. So, what are you waiting for... prepare them.
Grant Magers
CEO
Moola monsters, LLC
www.moolamonsters.com
Great article!
ReplyDeleteMoney being the Root of All Evil is probably one of the most mis-quoted verses in the Bible. The actual verse reads "For the LOVE of money is A root of all kinds of evil." 1 Tim 6:10
Hmmm...So if parents don't want to teach children about Biblical management of the money they have based on this passage, then they are condemning their children to a False Teaching.
Money in and of itself is not evil. The misuse of money is a root or a begining of all kinds of evil. What types of evil might misuse of money bring about?
1. use for personal pleasure and folly - alcoholism, drugs, self-indulgence
2. "Shop til you drop" - Consumerism and Worldly lust
3. Selfish Gain - gotta have it now
4. "Look out for number one" - Status
5. Honor and Glory to self rather than God
We are facing one of the biggest financial and economic crisis in America's history. The National Savings rate is at all time lows (negitive) due to over use and abuse of credit. Bankruptcy rates are at all time highs. Foreclosures are at some of the highest levels we've seen since the early 80's.
Jesus told us we can't serve both God and money. Well, by not educating your children about the importance of money in our lives, they will become slaves to the dollar and not even know how or why they got there.
How many Christians do you know who "serve the Lord" with all their heart, mind, soul and strenth, yet barely make it paycheck to paycheck. Little food on the table, 2-3 months out from Bankruptcy because there is no reserve system and over extended credit. Well, my friend that Christian is a slave to money and is serving money more than they are God!
It's time to wake up and learn how to honor God first with what he has blessed us with. Start with your kids. You have a great and awesome responsibility to change the next generation!
Joshua Christensen
Author, Consider the Ant
CEO, Consider the Ant Ministries
http://Fiscalstewardship.blogspot.com
http://companies.to/considertheant