Helping Your Children Learn to Manage Their Money Well (and honor God too)

Since my children were young, they have wanted money in their pockets. It started out small as they wanted a toy car or baby doll, but as the years have passed and all of my children are young adults and teens, there are many more wants. And not only wants but there are also needs…and they are much more expensive. We have done our best to teach our children the importance of hard work and money management principles along the way, and as they’ve gotten older, it has only been confirmed how very important it was. Today, I’m excited to welcome an expert in this area and author Matt Bell to the blog to discuss this topic. Matt’s brand new book, Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management, is an incredible guide to help you teach your kids how to manage money well.

It’s been my experience that many people misunderstand biblical financial stewardship. They think of it as a heavy burden. They imagine God saying to them, “Here is some of My stuff. Don’t break any of it or lose any of it.” That seems to be how the third servant understood his master’s instructions—and look what happened to him!

But that isn’t God’s message. Instead, He’s saying, “Here’s a portion of what I own. Manage it well, enjoy it, use it to do some good in My name, and as you do, I’ll give you more to manage.” Stewardship isn’t a heavy burden; it’s an incredible opportunity. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our kids grew up seeing money that way?

Jesus describes our relationships with God and money by using the story of a wealthy man who entrusts his property to the care of three servants before leaving on a journey: “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away” (Matthew 25:15).

That’s interesting already, isn’t it? The master entrusted each of his servants with different talents—units of money—based on their current abilities. In the same way, the amount of money or responsibility we entrust to our children should be based on their current abilities. “He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:16-19)

This parable contains a few of the foundational principles of biblical money management

1.     God owns everything.

2.     God expects us to do something productive with what He has entrusted to us.

3.     As we prove ourselves faithful, God will entrust us with more.

If you feel hesitant or ill-equipped to teach your children about money, you’re certainly not alone. Many parents recognize how important it is that their kids learn about money but are reluctant to be the ones who do the actual teaching. Reasons vary, from a lack of confidence in their own money-management abilities to concerns that they won’t be able to teach in a way that resonates with their kids. Others would rather outsource the job to their children’s schools.

My encouragement to you? You’re the perfect person for this job. Even if you’re having some financial struggles of your own or haven’t ever studied what the Bible says about money, the fact that you’re reading this shows that you care about helping your kids in this area. That’s a huge step in the right direction.

Remember, managing money biblically isn’t just about managing money. It’s very much about our eternal relationships—and our children’s eternal relationships—with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Matt Bell

It is so interesting to me that the topic of money and teaching our children to manage it well is often pushed aside for other subjects like science, math, reading, and more. Yes, those are valuable and useful, but our children will use money every day of their lives. It is never too early to teach and train them in the area of money. Matt’s book is a wholistic approach to helping our children understand not only how to manage money but why it matters in God’s eyes. This resource will set your children up for success…and you might learn and be reminded of a few things along the way too. :)

When your kids develop a healthy relationship with money at an early age, it will help every aspect of their lives to flourish. In Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management, Matt will equip you to teach your kids the purpose of money and how to pursue biblical financial priorities―everything they need to get on the right path for a lifetime of effective, joyful, God-glorifying money management. Includes plenty of examples, suggested conversation topics, and activities to do together with your children.

Disclosure: Excerpted from Trusted (Focus on the Family in partnership with Tyndale) This post is in partnership with Tyndale Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.