Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

Sharon Epps joins us again today in the studio. Sharon is the VP of Content and Media for Crown Financial Ministries.

We're going to talk about marriage and children today and how to pass on biblical lessons. Sharon has 4 children, ages 28-12, and I also have 4 children 27-9 and a 1-year-old grandson. We have a busy time raising children.

It breaks my heart when I hear people refer to children as a financial burden. Some governments want to limit the number of children you have, claiming there’s not enough resources for them. That’s not true.

The Bible says children are a blessing not a burden. Children can contribute to the family income. They need to be trained to produce income and be wise money managers. That's part of a parent’s responsibility. You’re raising adults, not children.

So we're going to share a story today about a family who has done this well, and also talk about parenting economics.

Most of you know of the pain caused by children who were not trained to handle money. Sharon will share a success story today about the Alba family in Dallas.

This family approached Crown for help with teaching their kids a biblical perspective about money. Your family is a living laboratory; the fruit of the Spirit should be evident at home.

Children catch the values that are lived out at home. If you do that well, your children will carry those values into the next generation. The Albas used Crown’s children materials and asked the Lord to show them how to train their children in the right attitudes to have about money.

The Alba children engaged with the material and began to understand things just like the adults about God’s ownership, honesty, etc. The Albas asked their children to write a letter to God to tell Him what they learned. They encouraged the children's relationship with the Lord and helped them see they were learning God’s way of handling money.

Children become consumers at around age 3. Advertising is aimed at children to get them to get their parents to spend. It's important to start teaching children about money as early as possible.

The Alba children set up their own budgets. Each had a giving, saving, and spending plan. Each gave 10% to their church and 5% to other ministries. They also contributed to the family vacation fund and got to experience the outcome of their giving.

We want children to learn gratitude and when they’re invested in something, they’re more grateful. Your heart follows where you put your money. So children who are helping pay for the family vacation appreciate it more.

The Albas reported that their 10-year-old felt God called him to do his homework better, to learn and apply the principle of faithfulness. Their 13-year-old was influenced less by peer pressure and made decisions based on what’s important eternally. Their older child recognized Biblical financial principles are God’s ways.

The Rules of Parenting economics:

1. Family is a community and everyone in the family shares in the opportunities, responsibilities, and rewards. Everyone should be involved in making and managing money. Give children an allowance for faithfully doing chores. Also offer them work for hire jobs, extra jobs they can do and be paid for. This helps the children and the family. It's good to have chores that are expected and jobs for earning money. Children need to have a family focus of service. Children need to learn to contribute to the family, it increases their sense of belonging and security. Important links:


• The Secret of Handling Money God’s Way
• Matthew 6:21
• Philippians 2:4
2. Establish job opportunities inside and outside the home that serve as a training ground for individual work and pay. Consider having a job board and post jobs with an amount for doing the job and the terms of employment. These are your expectations for the job such as it being done completely and well. This prepares your children for having a boss and working for someone else. Inspect a job before payment and expect excellence. A job must be done well before being paid. Encourage your children to pray before taking a job and not to take on something they’re not prepared to follow through with excellence. Help your children discover what they like. Match them with jobs that are good fits. Help them become good at something. A hobby can develop into a career.
   
   
3. Be sure allowances don’t discourage joy in community involvement or encourage laziness. Make sure the pay for the jobs fit into your budget. Also don’t pay too much in allowances or there will be no motivation for the jobs. Explore opportunities for work outside the home for teens. Let them be responsible for some of their expenses like gas, insurance, and clothes. There's nothing wrong with children contributing to the family’s needs as well.
   
   
4. Be consistent in the teaching, training, and disciplining process. Stick with whatever you decide to do. Children need stability. Actions are more important than words.
   
   
5. Reflect real life situations as closely as possible in everything you do. Model the systems, rewards, and and penalties of real life. Price the jobs as it would be in the real world. Children shouldn’t get paid if they don’t do a good job. Prepare them for success in the real world. Teach them to work with excellence. Children should be vulnerable to being fired at home. It's better for it to happen there than later on a real job.
   
   
6. Take the cloak off your family finances. This can be a challenge for parents. If you’re having a tough time, let your children know. They understand more than you think, so keep them informed. Use visual aids to help.
   
   
7. When assigning tasks, giving job opportunities, and deciding on training and discipline methods, take the individual child into consideration, his or her strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and problems. Teach children individually. Find things each child can do and likes to do. Be flexible. Consider gender, age, talents, and abilities.

Children and Finances Pt. 1

Parents’ goals should be to slowly develop financial discipline and wisdom in their children.

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Children and Finances Pt. 2

Parents are not raising children; they are raising future adults.

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Materialism vs. Self-Esteem

More children believe that their clothes and brands describe who they are and define their social status.

• Read More

Disciplining Children Financially

Financial pressure placed upon young adults is almost impossible to resist. As parents, our responsibility is to teach children self-discipline.?

• Read More

Other Resources:

• ABCs of Money Package
• Career Direct
• God's Principles for Operating a Business
• Business By the Book
• Crown Mvelopes