Just like selfishness, giving is something that we must teach our children. Selfishness tends to reign a little more naturally in our hearts, because we are sinful creatures living in a fallen world. On the other hand, God also made it part of our design to be cheerful givers. If you want your child to grow up to be a generous giver, they need to see it modeled by you. Here are some practical ways that you can easily teach your child to give with a heart of gratitude.
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CHILDREN WERE DESIGNED TO BE GIVERS
I want to talk about a child’s imagination for a moment. They can bring you a stick and a stone and be so excited that they made “soup” for you as they beg you to try it. After you take your pretend sip and tell them how good it was, their eyes light up! I say this to say, children naturally want to give, it makes their hearts happy because it’s the way that God made them to be.
It’s best to start them young when teaching them about giving. However, if you have older kids or giving is not something your child is strong in, then start at the basics. Tell them that giving makes our hearts happy and it makes other people feel good and encouraged.
TEACHING YOUNGER CHILDREN
Point out the times that they give to someone else. For example if your child shared their block with a friend you might say, “Yay! That was so awesome! Did you see how she lit up when you shared your block with her? You gave that to her, that was so nice. Or if I catch my kids saying, I’m thirsty. And the other one says here, I’ll give you this one. And I’ll just I’ll go get me another drink. And I’m like you wasn’t that great. And you can just tell it makes children feel happy. So to encourage the one to behavior again, and to magnify that focus on it, because what we focus on expands. And I feel like that’s really important to continue to keep coming back to because that’s the facts.
If you have a preschool aged kid, here are the top two things you should teach them at this age.
Obey without delay.
Give with a happy heart.
TEACHING OLDER CHILDREN
Tell them that it’s an amazing opportunity to be used to do God’s work. Tell them “We’re blessed to bless people. When you give you receive, but that’s NOT why we give. We give because that’s who God has made us to be, and we’re bringing Him glory when we do that. You can’t out-give God. The more you give, the more God is giving to you because of your act of obedience.”
BOTTOM LINE
The best way you can teach them to give is to do it yourself. Children are led by example. If they see us being selfish, with anything, they too are going to act in selfish ways. (That’s where the, “Mine! Mine!” comes in). A phrase that has stuck with me is, “Selfishness is the enemy of sacrifice.” Keep in mind whether intentional or not, you are teaching your child to be a giver or a taker. You can’t give with a happy heart and make sacrifices if you have a selfish heart.
During the season of giving, I challenge you to do something together as a family. Whether that’s giving to a nursing home, neighbor, or first responders in your area, let your child be a part of it. Share that experience with them and what it’s like to do something for somebody else. When they see you get excited about it, your kids are going to get excited about it too.
We’re raising up the next generation, this is the future church. I want to see a future church of cheerful givers blessing people, and just allowing God to use them as workers in the coming revival. Happy Holidays!