Rich in Relationship, or Rich in Stuff?

What's more important to your family - your money and stuff, or your relationship with God?

Today, kids in our NEXTgeneration Kids Ministry in grades 1-6 learned about Jesus' parable of the "Foolish Rich Man" (Luke 12:13-21). In the take-home sheet, we challenged families to test their hearts and make sure their relationship with God is #1.

Kids are naturally selfish (so are most adults, but life experience often shakes that out of us over time) - so you as a parent have to work intentionally to teach your kids selflessness. It starts early when you teach your toddler how to share and take turns. But if you stop there, you may have kids who are willing to share - but will you have kids who are willing to give away?

And that's the test: Are your kids willing to give away? If you're not willing to give away, they aren't either. You can teach them to give away, but if you're not modeling it, they won't become it.

So let's see how important your stuff and your money is to you... When was the last time you bagged up stuff you weren't using to give away to someone who could use it? Harder question: when was the last time you gave away something of value to someone who would appreciate it? Turning away from stuff and toward money: how do you really view giving financially? Are you generous? Or do you grit your teeth and do it because you know it's right?

Next: give away as a family. Most of us have too much stuff at home anyway. Work together to give away the things you're not using to someone who will use them. Help your kids get excited about giving to others, then give them a paper bag and help them work through the emotions of choosing toys to give away. Let them be a part of the process - all the way to delivering the toys to their final destination.

Finally: be intentional about your financial giving, and teaching your children about financial giving. Help them set aside a portion of every allowance or every payment for a job, and help them see how to give it cheerfully!

Now, this is all great for teaching about generosity, but that's not the most important thing. I know some incredibly generous people who don't have a relationship with God. Fostering your child's relationship with God has to be #1, or these are just techniques. So before you get into any of these, ask yourself this question: what are you doing to foster your child's relationship with God? This is more than I want to address in one blog post, but give some prayer to this. You are the loudest voice in your child's life, and their primary pastor. How are you teaching them?