Generosity is a trait that every parent would like their kids to have. For us, being generous means not just giving to others but also giving back to God. After all, it is He who supplies us with everything.
At 3.9 years old, we believe it was time for Luke to have a more hands-on experience with this and so we decided to introduce the concept of tithing.
What is Tithing?
“One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to him as holy.” (Leviticus 27:30)
To put it simply, tithing is giving 10% of your earnings to God (by giving it to the church.) Mor and I have always tithed and we want to pass this on to Luke.
Tithing for Kids
At the church we attend in every Sunday, the kids are given the opportunity to donate coins during their Sunday School session. We have always just given Luke the coins to drop because we wanted him to participate in the activity. But now that he’s a little older, I figured it was time for a little change.
Because tithing is a personal gift to God, I no longer wanted him to just ask for money from us to give. There would be no sense of ownership and responsibility. So I decided that it would be best for him to have his own money to give.
Step 1: Working for His Earnings
Luke at 3, of course, has no income and no allowance yet. He also does not get paid for chores (and we don’t ever intend to pay him for chores, which is a topic for another day!) So I had to think of a way that will allow him to experience working and earning. After discussing it with him and coming up with many different ideas, we eventually agreed on making and selling paintings.
Here he is, carefully getting inspiration from Van Gogh and Monet. Haha.
Ironically, he usually doesn’t enjoy painting as much as doing other activities. But when he found out that there were people interested in buying his work (grandma, grandpa, uncles and aunts, haha!) he became enthusiastic about it and started painting away! He finished 4 paintings in one sitting and proudly informed me that he has to paint more so he can sell more to other people.
Looks like someone got our entrepreneurial spirit!
Step 2: Selling His Paintings
When Luke’s grandparents came over to visit, it was the perfect opportunity to sell his paintings. Here he is sales talking his grandpa into buying his paintings. Grandpa wanted to buy all but he said, only 2 paintings per person. So grandma gets a chance to buy too. Smart! 😉
With his very first patrons. He sold 2 of his paintings for 40 pesos each and one for 50 pesos (around a dollar) He earned a total of 130 pesos! Congrats, Luke!
Note: Of course, we couldn’t keep this up weekly (grandma and grandpa would have a closet full of paintings if we did haha!) So aside from spreading out his tithe throughout the month, we are also trying to think of other ways for him to earn a little so he can give. He suggested making some treats and selling them. We might do that next!
Step 3: Time to Tithe
Now that he has 130 pesos, it was time to set aside a portion for his tithe. We got him a wooden coin bank that was labelled “Save, Spend and Tithe” with separate compartments. You can easily do something similar by labelling 3 different coin banks, jars or even envelopes.
CALCULATING 10%
Luke’s understanding in terms of numbers is still pretty limited. So I was trying to think of creative ways on how to explain to him what 10% means. But my husband shared his super simple and smart idea on how to easily explain it:
Basically, you write the number (so we wrote “130” on his chalkboard) and you just cover the last number to get 10% (Why didn’t I think of that? Lol.) For Luke, it was 13. That’s it! Pretty simple, right? So we got 13 pesos and dropped that on his “TITHE” box.
I asked him what he wanted to do with the rest and he placed everything in “SAVE”. He says he’s saving up for a Disneyland trip. Hehe. Wise.
Why We Teach Our Kids Tithing
There have always been and will always be debates about tithing. Some say it’s an Old Testament law that is no longer required now that we are under a new covenant in Christ. Some say you don’t have to give 10%. And there are even some who argue about how you should tithe (give it to the church or to the poor?)
Regardless of your beliefs on the details of tithing though, I believe that giving back to God is a nice lesson to teach our children. Personally, Mor and I feel that we can best teach this by teaching ours about tithing. I believe that by doing so, we also remind our kids of these truths:
- God owns everything: They are simply caretakers and stewards of whatever has been given to them. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1)
- Always put God first: “Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
- That we always give, not just out of abundance: By showing them that they can tithe no matter how big or small their earnings (since it’s 10%, no matter what amount), they learn that it is never about how much they have but instead, it’s about their willingness to give. Remember the story of the poor widow’s offering? (See Mark 12:41-44)
And there you have it. Hope this post has given you some ideas on how to start introducing the concept of tithing to your kids!
If you want to read more about teaching kids with a similar “Kingdom-based” perspective on finances, I highly recommend this article by my friend Angeli entitled “Teaching Toddlers: Money Values and the Value of Money.”
May we raise grateful children who will place God first above all.
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