When my children were younger, my aunt attempted to teach my son about tithing. What she didn't know was that we had already taught him this concept. She laid out 10 dimes and started to tell him that God only wanted one dime the rest were his to keep. My son, who has always been money savvy, said, "God wants all of it! I give Him one to show Him that I love Him." I was beaming. I thought, "yeah, way to go son!!" My Aunt said that he was correct and that he must have already known about tithing.
We had an experience earlier in the week where I taught him the concept. I had given him a small bag of french fries. I asked him to let me have one. He said, "No! These are mine!!" I reminded him that I paid for the fries. I was the one who gave them to him. If I hadn't given them to him, he would have nothing. By all rights, those fries belonged to me because I gave them to him to enjoy.
Later in the meal, we talked about how I got that money. "God gave me a job so that I would have money to spend on you so you could get fries. So everything I have belongs to God. He can have whatever He wants because He supplied me with everything. Without God, I would have nothing."
He was just a young boy, I didn't want to wear him out. So the next day we picked the conversation back up. "Some people believe that you keep most for yourself and just give God a little bit. In our family, we believe that everything belongs to God. I give Him money at church to help pay for His building and other things." He wanted to know what the "other things" were. I told him about electricity, water, the pastor's expenses... at that pointed he interrupted me, "Does that pay for the pastor's daughter to have things?" I said, "yes." He said, "well, if it pays for her, I don't want to give any!" He was joking.... We had reached the end of our conversation about money and God's generosity. I had worn him out.
Nevertheless, he caught on to the concept that I was trying to teach him... Just ask my Aunt.
How do you view money?
Is it yours? Is it God's?
"This is a church of poor people, and I want the poorest to give without being embarrassed and the richest to come without being begged." ~ Bresee
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
We had an experience earlier in the week where I taught him the concept. I had given him a small bag of french fries. I asked him to let me have one. He said, "No! These are mine!!" I reminded him that I paid for the fries. I was the one who gave them to him. If I hadn't given them to him, he would have nothing. By all rights, those fries belonged to me because I gave them to him to enjoy.
Later in the meal, we talked about how I got that money. "God gave me a job so that I would have money to spend on you so you could get fries. So everything I have belongs to God. He can have whatever He wants because He supplied me with everything. Without God, I would have nothing."
He was just a young boy, I didn't want to wear him out. So the next day we picked the conversation back up. "Some people believe that you keep most for yourself and just give God a little bit. In our family, we believe that everything belongs to God. I give Him money at church to help pay for His building and other things." He wanted to know what the "other things" were. I told him about electricity, water, the pastor's expenses... at that pointed he interrupted me, "Does that pay for the pastor's daughter to have things?" I said, "yes." He said, "well, if it pays for her, I don't want to give any!" He was joking.... We had reached the end of our conversation about money and God's generosity. I had worn him out.
Nevertheless, he caught on to the concept that I was trying to teach him... Just ask my Aunt.
How do you view money?
Is it yours? Is it God's?
"This is a church of poor people, and I want the poorest to give without being embarrassed and the richest to come without being begged." ~ Bresee
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
RSS Feed