Hugh O’Neill and Linda Staats: Teaching children to share, save, and spend

Point your kids in the right direction — when they’re old they won’t be lost. Proverbs 22:6

Make money talk a priority
“We work hard to educate our kids about reading, writing and arithmetic, but money-smart lessons often get overlooked,” says Barbara Dunn, one of the Thrivent Financial representatives who led the sessions. “Families are very busy, what with work and school and sports and a million things draining their time,” says Dunn. “Growing up, a lot of parents were taught that you don’t talk about money, so even as adults they are reluctant to teach their kids the basics of earning money, making budgets and sharing with others. They don’t know how, because it was never taught financial literacy is important.”

Start early
Avoid the common assumption that money is too grown-up for kids. “We want our kids to have carefree childhoods, and we worry that talking about money will make them anxious,” says Laura Dierke, program manager at Thrivent Financial, who includes her 3-year-old daughter in coupon clipping. But the opposite may be true. “Young kids can grasp the underlying ideas of saving and sharing, and the earlier we make them comfortable about money, the better…”

Teach them to share, save and spend
Help children divide their money into three categories: share, save and spend. “If your kids get money for Christmas or a birthday, always encourage them to divide it into thirds – a third for buying something they want, a third for saving for things they may want in the future and a third for sharing with others,” says Dierke. Children attending the workshop received a blue piggy bank with three compartments, but you can easily label three jars or boxes at home for the same effect…

Have a grateful house
Be purposeful about celebrating sharing in your home. Read Bible stories and books that feature generosity. Make a point of noting the kindness of others. If your sister supports a food pantry, make sure your kids know you admire their aunt’s sharing. To help kids allocate and budget their money, make sure the cash you give them can easily be chopped into singles and the rest in coins. This practice will not only help them understand the idea of parceling it out, but also make it easier for them to stash some in a piggy bank for saving and sharing, and some in their fist for spending at the store.

Spread out the cash
Don’t give an allowance every week; consider dispensing it biweekly or even monthly. If kids know another $5 is coming on Friday, they may be more impulsive about spending the allowance you just gave them. But if they know they have to make their money last for a while, they’ll figure out the importance of discipline and self-control.”

Hugh O’Neill in “The Secrets of the Blue Pig: How to teach your children about saving, spending and sharing” in The Generosity Project by Linda Staats, 24-25.

What a delight to have Linda Staats present at the Stewardship Summit on The Generosity Project! It is a lively Saturday morning interactive experience for all ages exploring attitudes and behaviors around money: earning, saving, spending, and sharing. After listening to her presentation, I read through the project materials, including this article, and loved how stewardship and budgeting conversation activities engage everyone together from children and teens to parents and grandparents.

The idea of teaching budgeting has been on my mind since I recently wrote a blog post for CLA entitled, “Got Budget?” Check it out. It just posted today.

Therein I ask people to consider the difficulty of someday giving an account for our stewardship to God if they rank among the two-thirds of Americans that don’t live on a budget. I urge everyone to build a budget with four or five categories — give richly, spend simply, save carefully, pay taxes, and retire debts (if you have them) — and to help others they love to live on a budget as well, to prepare everyone to give an account for their stewardship to God.

As O’Neill notes and as Staats emphasized, start talking about money when children are young. Point them in the right direction so they don’t get lost!

A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10

“It is of utmost importance for us to understand this more abundant life, because for a true life of prayer it is necessary that we walk in an ever-increasing experience of that overflowing life.

It is possible for us to begin this conflict against prayerlessness in dependence on Christ, looking to Him to be assisted and kept in it, and still be disappointed. This is the time when prayerlessness must be looked upon as the one sin against which we must strive. It must be recognized as part of the whole life of the flesh and as being closely connected with other sins that spring from the same source.

We forget that the flesh and all its affections, whether manifested in the body or the soul, must be regarded as crucified and be handed over to death. We must not be satisfied with a weakened life, but must seek an abundant life. We must surrender ourselves entirely so that the Spirit may take full possession of us and manifest His life in us so that our spiritual being will be completely transformed.

What is it that particularly constitutes this abundant life? We cannot too often repeat it or in different ways too often explain it: the abundant life is nothing less than Jesus having full mastery over our entire being through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) in Living a Prayerful Life (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2002) 50.

After returning home from warm Southern California to snowy Colorado for a day (pictured above on our morning walk yesterday), I flew to Memphis, Tennessee, last night for meetings with stewardship educators at the Stewardship Summit in Southaven, Mississippi over the next few days. I pray God blesses us abundantly at this event at which stewardship educators gather to learn from each other.

As I continue to explore the theme of “abundance” in 2018, I found that Andrew Murray offered a rich perspective on prayerlessness as largely the barrier to abundance. Think about it. To go to the place where we can experience abundance, we must be totally dependent on Christ and remain in communion with Him. We must cast our fleshly desires aside and allow the Spirit to have full mastery over every aspect of our lives.

What’s this got to do with generosity? Friends, everything we are and all we have belongs to God. The prayerless one navigates life seeing only the scarcity and pursues financial independence, and even arrogantly proclaims, “No one will have to take care of me.” Alternatively, the prayerful one grasps abundance because, in every aspect of life, that person pursues dependence on God, and perpetually receives supply for enjoyment and sharing.

Here’s how this might look in everyday life. Start each simply with the Lord’s Prayer (cf. Matthew 6:9-13, I like to pray it daily when I stretch my back after I wake up). Assume the posture of “dependence on Christ” as Murray puts it, in perpetual prayer and conversation with God throughout the day (often couple it with fasting to set aside the flesh in pursuit of God’s desires). Lastly, trust, that for His namesake, He will lead, guide and provide.

Jesus wants you and I to combat prayerlessness by depending on Him so we take hold of abundant life and can point others to it. When we do, it’s the greatest act of generosity we can perform. It’s why we are here on this earth.

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” He asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him. Matthew 29:29-34

“There is nothing good, nothing holy, nothing beautiful, nothing joyous which He is not to His servants. No one need be poor, because, if he chooses, he can have Jesus as his own property and possession. No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven, and it is His joy to enter into sorrowful hearts. We can exaggerate about many things; but we can never exaggerate our obligation to Jesus, or the compassionate abundance of the love of Jesus to us. All our lives long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him.”

A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God (Abbotsford: Aneko, 2015) 28-29.

The crowds in antiquity rebuked the blind who cried out to Jesus for help. Consider the irony of this moment. Those who can see are blind to what Christ can do while the blind appear to see quite clearly. The same thing happens today. Don’t worry about what others think. The compassionate abundance of the love us Jesus toward us is unfathomable. And notice what He says to those who call to Him. “What do you want me to do for you?” What service! It sounds like a humble, yet enthusiastic, waiter or waitress eager to serve us. “What do you want me to do for you?” Let’s take that posture with others as well, empowered by His love.

Father in heaven, thank you for the compassionate abundance of the love us Jesus toward us. By your Holy Spirit, help us take the posture of “What do you want me to do for you?” toward others so our service brings you glory. Amen.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11-13

“Believe in God’s grace. But that means suddenly having the rug pulled out from under your feet, means standing where no person can stand, means undertaking something infinitely absurd and infinitely courageous, means seeing God rather than the world, means seeing God’s abundance rather than our own misfortune and guilt, means becoming extremely small and seeing God become great, means taking seriously the incomprehensible contradiction that God does indeed want to have something to do with the world – despite everything, and means recognizing that God is greater than all distress and greater than our own hearts which condemn us.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Meditation and Prayer, edited by Peter Frick (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2010) 32.

I am glad I chose abundance as my word for 2018. It’s like putting on a pair of glasses to help me see the world the way God sees it. Everything’s right side up! In this reading by Bonhoeffer, we are exhorted to believe in God’s grace as it changes everything, and enables us to see His abundance. But why must Dietrich exhort us to believe in it?

It’s other worldly. It reveals forces at work beyond all comprehension. For example, I am praying for God’s grace to help me get home to Denver this morning despite a snowstorm. I believe in God’s grace.

I think many live like grace is “too good to be true” as it is so different from how the world functions. It’s antithetical. Thus, with regard to possessions they think they have earned all they possess. They don’t realize that all they have received are gifts of grace. How can we help these folks? Live like you believe in God’s grace. Jesus saves us from ourselves and shows us how to live abundantly in this present age.

Many people won’t believe until they see. Show them what happens when a person believes in grace.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

“The supreme characteristic of His love is infinite freedom. It cannot be compelled to respond by the laws of any desire, that is, of any necessity. It is without limitation because it is without need. Being without need, His love seeks out the needy, not in order to give them little, but in order to give them all. His love cannot be at peace in a soul that is content with a little. For to be content with a little is to will to continue in need. It is not God’s will that we should remain in need. He would fulfill all our needs by delivering us from all possessions and giving us Himself in exchange. If we would belong to His love, we must remain always empty of everything else, not in order to be in need, but precisely because possessions make us needy.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in No Man is an Island (Boston: Shambhala, 2005) 255.

The best part about this Intersection Conference has been the rich discussions with pastors from Southern California, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and South Korea. While my biblical teaching has gotten them thinking, it has been the testimony of what it’s like for our family to follow Jesus in obedience, that has moved the hearts of many. Praise God!

Repeatedly this weekend I reported that while Jesus may not appear to make sense when it comes to His teachings on money, it is because He’s trying to invite us to take hold of life according to a whole different economy. We don’t figure it out until we live it out. Most people think obedience will leave them empty, so they freeze with fear.

Or, as Merton would say, they are “content with a little.” Life in the fast lane in New York City left Merton empty. Only in letting go of what could not satisfy did he find satisfaction in Christ. If you are holding on to possessions let them go. They only make you needy. Hold on to Jesus. His love is all you need, and you’ll overflow with generosity.

You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing. Psalm 65:9-13

“All the covenantal benefits are blessings of God by which He demonstrates to His people that they are His beloved elect. Water is one such blessing. People prepare the land before the rain falls by making “furrows” and “ridges”. They rejoice when after the gentle rains vegetation grows. They rejoice even more when they see the latter rains in the spring. These rains permit the crops to mature and to produce abundant harvests. It is as though God’s “carts” (i.e., clouds) overflow. When God’s carts overflow, His people rejoice in the bountiful provisions.”

Willem A. VanGemeren in Psalms (EBC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008) 500.

My conference is going well in Orange County, though I have not spent much time outside. I did shoot the header photo of the deep blue sky and huge cacti which caught my attention at a break between sessions yesterday. It’s been a rich time with leaders from across Southern California, New York, New Jersey, and South Korea.

As I explore “abundance” (my word for 2018) in the Scriptures, I read this Psalm today. Rain is on my mind as I recently agreed to facilitate some meetings for an international mission organization in South Africa in late February and early March. I learned this week that Cape Town and other cities are in dire need of moisture.

So my prayer today is simply, Lord have mercy on South Africa. Please send them rain. Join me. Let’s pray He sends it soon in many the form of many “carts” overflowing with water. Then I thought of the poor around the world, crying for help, wishing we would be one of God’s “carts” to deliver them what they need.

What’s this got to do with generosity? Friends, we are God’s “cart” designed to deliver abundance. Sure, we must be generous in a manner that builds disciples rather than creating dependencies, I get that. My point is to actively take our role as God’s distributors. Right now, let’s send up prayers for water every time we drink a cold glass ourselves.

And the next time you see a cloud, or every time you see a cloud, consider it a reminder. It’s God’s “cart” bringing you abundance so that your life can produce abundance. Don’t let it dam up with you. Dig furrows and put up ridges so that it waters and brings life to the land around you.

And Lord, it seems really dry in cloudless Southern California too, could you please send a few “carts” here too.

With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God — gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble — all of these in large quantities. Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 1 Chronicles 29:2-6

“David’s gifts are a reflection of his devotion to God and the place that will be built in honor of his God (note the triple reference of the “temple of my God,” vv. 2, 3 [2x]). In the light of David’s abundant personal gifts to the temple project, he challenges the congregation to follow his example — expressed as personal choice to show devotion to God… In the light of David’s challenge to the people to follow his example of abundant generosity, the leaders of the Israelite community respond with their own display of generosity toward the Jerusalem temple project. The chronicler emphasizes the “willing response” of the community leaders and the resulting joy of both the people and king. Note that the focus of the leaders’ giving is Godward… These corporate acts of wholehearted freewill giving and joyful celebration work to to transition David’s description of the temple as the “temple of my God” to the Israelite community’s embracing the “temple of our God.”

Frederick J. Mabie in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 Chronicles-Job, general editors, Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 152.

In today’s Scripture, not only does King David’s giving reflect his devotion to God, but he challenges the leaders of his people to follow suit. Generosity starts with leaders and their abundant generosity.

If you are leader engaging in a funding project, perhaps for a worship center, a Christian education facility, or some other dedicated space for ministry, I suggest you follow this pattern.

Teach your congregation or constituency to join you in consecration, not construction. Giving to construction will knit their hearts to a building. Giving to consecration will connect their hearts to God.

That’s why “giving is Godward.” Don’t call the people you serve to give to a project, instruct them to give to God. And you must lead the way in this. This pattern transforms the givers, connecting you and them, to God.

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:8-10

“There is more than one way to sow, and thankfully, the seeds of destruction are not the only seeds we can sow. Good seed is available, and when it is sown in a fertile field, it yields a rich harvest…

Sowing to the Spirit means following the Spirit’s lead, obeying His instructions for holy living. To be more specific, sowing to the Spirit means sowing the kind of seed that comes from the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, kindness, faithfulness, and the like. It means cultivating good spiritual fruit…

A man sows to the Spirit when he denies his own ambition in order to serve others. A woman sows to the Spirit when she is reconciled to her sister in Christ. A husband and wife sow to the Spirit when they repent of their selfishness and begin to work together in true spiritual partnership, In short, sowing to the Spirit means living for Christ in every area of life.

Every time we think a thought, speak a word, or perform a deed, we plant a seed. Every time we think, say, or do anything for the glory of God, we are sowing to His Spirit…Whoever sows to the Spirit reaps the richest harvest of all: eternal life. This does not mean, of course, that salvation comes by works.

Eternal life is a gift that is based on believing, not on doing. However, believers are doers, and although no one is ever saved by works, no one is ever saved without them either. Therefore, having been saved by grace, the believer goes out and sows to please the Spirit. God, in His grace, will give the reward of eternal life to everyone who sows good spiritual seed.”

Philip Graham Ryken in Galatians (REC; Phillipsburg: R & R Publishing, 2005) 261.

This text in Galatians has been on my heart the past few days as I interface with leaders around the world, sowing in difficult places. Dripping from the keys of my laptop keyboard has been the encouragement to not grow weary, reminding them of the expectation of an abundant harvest for those who persevere.

It’s hard though. I get it. But what do we do. We get out there and sow, keeping the hope of abundance in view.

Today I head to Orange County to sow in the lives of pastors and marketplace leaders at the Intersection Conference this week. I will also see some friends who co-labor with Christ in Southern California. In every life I touch I have one objective: sowing to the Spirit. Make that your aim today and everyday.

And, for inspiration, if you would like a free e-book edition of my book, The Sower, reply to this email.

“I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written, ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.'” 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

“Paul writes as a practical theologian. He does not coerce the church, as that would violate the act of self-giving abundance. Nor does he ask for excessive self-giving, even though Christ gave self-excessively. He asks only for “a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance” (v. 13-14).

Paul completes that part of his argument with an appeal to the manna narrative of Exodus 16:18: “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (v. 15). If ever the biblical tradition provided a case study in divine generosity, the manna story is it. Paul does not go on to remind the church that Israel in the manna story was prohibited from storing up surplus, but the point is readily inferred.

Thus we come full circle to his query in 1 Corinthians 4:7: “What do you have that you did not receive?” Manna is all gift; what the church in Corinth has is all gift. It was all given. And now, in a corresponding act of generosity, it may be shared as the church in Macedonia has done.”

Walter Brueggemann in Money and Possessions (Interpretation; Louisville: WJKP, 2016) 224. For those looking for the most recent comprehensive biblical theology of money and possessions, this book is it!

Brueggemann reminds us today that the manna story is a case study in divine generosity.

Do you want to see rich giving in your church? Follow Paul’s example. Notice how he communicates. He graciously points the way to self-giving abundance. He reminds people that all is a gift from God, just like the manna. It cannot be stored up. God’s design is sharing. Anything unshared spoils. Notice no coercion. No motivating with guilt.

Lest you think your students or congregation might ignore you for instructing them accordingly, likely because they have bought the world’s scarcity narrative, remind them that in the manna story the people ignored Moses too (see Exodus 16:16-21). What’s so telling is that God never forces us to acknowledge that He is the giver of all good gifts!

We demonstrate whether or not believe this profound truth by how we handle money. Notice though, there’s no coercion. People will either live like they believe and give with self-giving abundance, or they won’t. Sadly, the latter will miss more than the opportunity to share. Most probably, they have chosen a trajectory that causes them to miss the life that is truly life altogether.

Let’s teach this case study in divine generosity so those we serve grasp self-giving abundance. All we have is a gift to be shared.

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? James 2:5

“I have been fortunate to come alongside communities and families in some of the hardest places in the world…I have walked the dusty roads of towns and villages in the nations we too easily look down upon from our perch of privilege. I have sat in the homes of people and have heard their stories of suffering, seen their resilience and seen how they can find joy and be thankful to God even in the most challenging circumstances. They have taught me what it is to love, what it is to have faith and what it is to hope in things as yet unseen. They have taught me humility and blessed me with their friendship.”

Tim Breene of World Relief as quoted by James Hoxworth in his 14 January 2018 sermon on James 2.

Rich in faith! That’s the leg up on the rich that the poor possess. Why? They have nothing else on which to rely. Don’t hear this as a slam against the rich, but celebrating that the gospel is for everyone.

Do you sit on a perch of privilege? Is your primary aim in life to insulate yourself and your family from difficulty and discomfort? If so, it might be time to visit the poor, to walk in their footsteps.

Your generosity, I am confident, will grow inestimably. How do I know this? When you visit them, you will learn things. You will see faith, hope, and love in action at depths you never dreamed.

I think you will work diligently to exchange earthly riches for eternal ones from that point forward. How do I know? Once a person realizes that Christ is all they need, their openhanded generosity knows no boundaries after that.

Don’t worry, be generous.