6 ways Christian parents can help encourage their children to give

As a child, it was always exciting if you were chosen to be one of the people to pass the offering plates around in the church service. We would watch them go up and down the row before moving it on to the next. Other weeks, when Sunday School was on, we would take coins to put into a pot as the group had a sponsor child in another country. The leaders would share about how our gifts were helping to change someone’s life.

For me, giving at church was very normal. From a young age, I knew that people gave money to church.

Our children are young (just turned 5 and about to turn 7), and to them, money comes when you tap your phone against a machine

The other day I had one of those random thought moments which led to a conversation with my husband about how we would teach our children about giving now that the offering plates don’t go around. How do we help them to understand this is part of our worship to God when they don’t see it?

Our children are young (just turned 5 and about to turn 7), and to them, money comes when you tap your phone against a machine. We have had conversations with them about there not being endless taps/money to pay for things, but how do we help them to grasp an even bigger picture about the joy of giving?

There are a few things we need to ensure we are doing – and repeatedly doing as they grow older and their capacity to understand increases.

1. We need to teach them about what money is. To not assume that they understand or that school will teach them everything. Ultimately, we need them to know that money is an important part of life but should never be our focus for living (Hebrews 13v5).
2. We need to share with them what the Bible says about money. To share stories like The Good Samaritan or The Widow’s Offering to talk about choices people made with their money. To talk about what the Bible says our attitude should be to money.
3. We need to teach them that not everyone has the same. That some are massively privileged, some are incredibly poor, and many sit on the spectrum in between. That we never judge others by what they do or don’t have, and that the Bible teaches us to not covert what we don’t have. Probably to explain what covert means too, as we don’t really use it anymore!
4. We need to talk about what it means to be generous with our money. To talk about how we give to church and why. To talk about giving to charity. This can also build in to talking about how we can be generous in other ways if we don’t have a lot of money. How we can be generous with our time. How we can share things.
5. We need to give opportunities for them to make choices with money from a young age. To help them to learn about value and opportunities. Then as they get older to teach them more about budgeting.
6. We need to model our choices and talk openly about money. I know it’s very un-British! But let’s talk about how we give to church, charities, as well as how we chose to save and the cost of living.

Read more:

Janie Oliver: ‘Parenting definitely won’t be what you expect but if you let yourself, you’ll find joy and magic in places you won’t anticipate.’

Some practical ideas:

• As a family you could chose to have a set amount each month that together you decide how you are going to ‘give’ it. Are you going to give it all to one place? Are you going to use it to buy something to bless someone else?
• Give pocket money or let them earn money for chores, then help them think through what they are going to spend, save or give from what they have. You could do this with physical money and pots for each area or write it out to help them understand that whilst we don’t carry cash, money still has value.
• Get involved in fundraising activities - you could pick a charity or local project and help them to raise money to donate.
• Spend time looking through what the Bible teaches about money, thinking about choices people made and why in stories like that of Zaccheus or those mentioned above, thinking about what Jesus taught, what Paul told the early churches, etc. Then work together on some key take aways from the learning; you could make posters with verses on them to remind yourself to check your heart when it comes to money.
• Take the opportunity just before a birthday or Christmas to talk to them about passing things on to others, then doing it with them.
• If you are able, get involved in something like the Shoebox appeal, sponsor a child, or donate food to local food banks/pantries.

So, what next?

Following ‘The Quiet Revival’ report there are more and more stories of a spiritual hunger and awakening in the younger generations as many turn up at church to find out more. Alongside that comes a generation becoming known for their generosity.

Barna’s report ‘A New Era of Giving’ shared how Gen Z (those aged 16-30) are one of the most generous generations (Stewardship’s Generosity Report says something similar), but how a lot of their giving is irregular (probably down to limited financial resources). It’s highly likely that Generation Alpha (aged 1-15) and Generation Beta (born from 2025) will follow the same patterns of wanting to generously support causes.

So, it seems the foundations are there, and if we as parents, mentors or role models can harness and nurture this inbuilt generosity imagine what impact it could have on the church and beyond in the future. The plates might not be passed around so much, but the cheerful givers will remain.