Parenting Like Hannah

Tips for Teaching Kids About God and Money

Tips for Teaching Kids About God and Money - Parenting Like Hannah Raising kids to have godly values about money is tough. Not only are parents battling an extremely materialistic society, but godly principles about money require a delicate balance. Everything we have belongs to God and is a blessing from Him. (James 1:17) We need to take good care of our blessings and give generously back to God through helping others and direct donations to God’s work. (II Corinthians 9:7) We need to work hard in our jobs. (Colossians 3:23) We shouldn’t be obsessed with money, especially to the point where it replaces God. (I Timothy 6:10)

There are some practical things you can do to help your children begin to find this godly balance about money.

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Five Mistakes Parents Make When Teaching Honesty

The first time your child tells a lie, it is always a shock. How did this innocent little child decide telling you a lie was the best course of action? Are you in danger of raising a pathological liar? Probably not, but if you can avoid some common parenting mistakes, you are more likely to raise a child who is the truthful adult God requires.

So what are these common mistakes? These are the ones I notice parents making over and over.

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Christian Parents as Story Tellers

If you frequent libraries and bookstores, chances are you and your children have enjoyed a story teller. A good story teller can transport you and your child to all sorts of fictional places. Often you leave feeling as if you have actually experienced the event.

I couldn’t wait to read The Art of Story Telling by John Walsh. Walsh is a Christian story teller who discovered something amazing. The Bible is full of wonderful true stories. In fact, about 75% of the Bible is comprised of stories (the rest is poetry and instructions).

Historically, Christian story tellers have taken Bible stories and added their own touches of assumed sights, sounds and emotions. Walsh spent a lot of time studying storytelling, especially as done by many missionaries. He found the Bible stories were wonderful almost exactly as written (he sometimes deletes details like long lists of names). More importantly, God gave us the stories that have the power to change lives.

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Easy Christian Hospitality for Kids

Abraham entertaining angels “unaware” was one of my favorite Bible stories as a child. The idea of being hospitable and accidentally entertaining angels, captured my imagination. Growing up, I can barely remember a meal when just our immediate family was dining at the table. It seemed we had a constant stream of people eating with us and even spending the night.

Modern society has almost killed hospitality. For a variety of reasons, it seems the only time people are in our homes is if we are throwing some sort of party or event. If you are introverted or a nervous hostess, formal events can seem so overwhelming, you probably never have people in your home at all.

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Devotional Ideas for the Hectic Family

When our daughter was younger, we were determined to have family devotionals. We would start having them at a certain time and inevitably within a week or so, something would happen to make the time slot we had chosen unworkable in the future. Or we would actually finish a family devotional book and not be able to find something new we liked. Or my husband would have to go out of town, making it a mommy and one child devo. Or it seemed like we weren’t at home from morning until bed time for several days in a row.

There are so many seemingly valid reasons why we don’t have family devotionals in our homes. I think part of the problem is it just sounds intimidating. We think we have to do this big formal thing with everyone in the family present, and it must resemble those “fancy” Bible studies we get at Church.

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