10 Giving Lessons Parents Can Teach Their Children

With the ongoing damage caused by Covid-19, the last thing many parents are thinking about is helping other people and families.

And I get that. First and foremost we have to take care of our families.

But this is also a moment in history where we can teach our kids the blessings of being a giver.

And this is not just about money. It's about having a heart that looks for ways to give back to God and help others.

Here are 10 short devos you can use to do this.

1. I want to show you a picture of a boy who lives in Thailand (show picture). He presents many of the children all over the world who have never even heard of Jesus. If you were to ask him today, who Jesus is, he would look at you with a puzzled look. He has no idea that Jesus is the only way to heaven. But we can change that. When you give your tithes and offerings, the money helps kids like him, all over the world, hear about Jesus.

A Bible can be printed and given to him. Missionaries can be sent there to tell him about Jesus. Let's be faithful to give our tithes and offerings so kids who have never heard about Jesus can discover His love. (Ask your child to lead in prayer. Pray for kids all over the world who have never heard of Jesus to be able to hear about Him. Pray that God will use the offering to help reach them).

2. When we give some of the money God has given back to Him it's called tithing. The Bible teaches us that we should give at least 10% of the money God has given us back to Him. Let me show you what that means.

(Hold up a bag of 10 apples or other items.)

I have a bag with 10 apples in it. If I give God His tithe from these 10 apples, how many would I give back to Him?

(Have child respond).

That's right. I would give Him one apple (hold up one apple). That apple would be my tithe. What would the tight be for $1 (let child respond)? That's right! 10 cents. You can trust God. When you give back the tithe, He has promised to take care of you and provide for you. So...if you get an allowance or earn money some other way, I want to encourage you to bring your tithe.

3. Everyone make a heart shape with your hands (have child make a heart shape with his/her hands). God wants you to know today that He loves you. Place your hands that are in a heart shape over your heart (Have kids place their hands over their heart while making the heart shape).

One way we can show God that we love Him back is by giving Him some of the money He has blessed us with. When you bring your offering and give it to Jesus, you're saying by your actions, "God I love you." Take your heart shape and hold it up to the sky toward God (Have kids hold their hands up in the air while making the heart shape).

4. Closed hands vs. open hands.

• Hand the child a $1 bill and have them hold it tightly in their fist.

• Bring out a $5 bill and explain that you can't give the person the $5 bill because they are holding on to the $1 bill so tightly.

• Explain that when we hold our offering with a clenched fist, we miss out on so many other blessings that God wants to give us.

• Share this verse.

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in My Temple. If you do, I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in." Malachi 3:10

Let's hold our money with open hands instead of closed hands. If we will do this, He will bestow so many more blessings upon us.

5. (Hold up a half-eaten sandwich or other food item).

How would you feel if I invited you over to eat and then offered you leftovers. That wouldn't be very honoring, would it? You'd feel like a I really didn't care much about you.

When it comes to bringing our offering to God, He doesn't want our leftovers. He wants our very best. That's why He asks us to give Him the tithe...which is the first 10% of our money. He says if we put Him first with your money, everything will fall into place.

Lets be faithful to give God our very best offering...instead of leftovers. He is awesome and deserves our very best!

6. One of the ways we can worship God is by giving Him a tithe, which is 10% of our money. That means if you have $1.00, you give back 10 cents to Him and you keep 90 cents.

When you do this, you're saying, "God, I believe You are big enough to do more with 90 cents than I can do with the $1.00 by myself." God says in His Word to try it and He will show you how big He is.

7. I have some money in my pocket. Do you think you know how much I have? Let's see how much it is (pull coins out).

Today, we're learning that God knows everything. He knew exactly how much money I had in my pocket. Isn't it awesome that God knows everything? And one of the ways we an worship Him is by giving back some of the money He has entrusted us with.

When you give your offering, you are worshiping God...and He is worthy of our worthy of our worship.

8. Have you ever looked at our money? It says we trust in someone. Do you know whom it says we should trust in?

(Show $1.00 bill)

That's fight. It says "In God We Trust." This is a great reminder that when we give our offering, we can trust God to take care of us as He's promised to do in His Word. So let's be faithful to give our offering and show God that we trust Him to meet our needs.

9. (Show the picture of General Sherman - the tallest tree in the world - located in Sequoia National Park in California).

102 feet around - 275 feet tall

It started as a simple seed that was planted in the ground years ago (hold up small seed and show to kids).

When you give your offering, it's like planting a seed. And one day, it will grow into big things and make a big impact in people's lives.

(Show a picture of kids/people in another country.)

Plant a seed today with your offering and God will do big things with it.

10. Read Luke 6:38 with the child.

"Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full - pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over and poured into your lap."

Holdup an empty clear cup.

Have another clear cup that is half full with water.

Pour some water from the half full cup into the empty cut.

Bring out a clear pitcher of water.

Use the pitcher to overflow the cup you poured water from. (have bowl underneath to catch the water that overflows).

Explain as you are doing this that when we give, God has promised to fill us back to overflowing. You can't out give God!

Your turn. What are some more ways parents can teach their children about giving? Share with us in the comment section below.