How do you teach your children–even adult children–about giving and charity? And how do you teach them their wealth is not just for them, but for others, too?

My wife and I met with Roy Peterson, president of The Seed Company, last night.

We were talking about The Seed Company’s charitable purpose and work, Bible translation, and similar matters. At one point, however, partially because we began talking about the Sonlight Curriculum/Mission India Rice Bag Project we are sponsoring, the conversation turned to the subject of how we (people in general) can teach our children about charity and charitable-mindedness.

Roy said that when his son was doing some research on this subject a few years ago, he discovered that the average American teenager has a say over how as much as $390 a month is spent–the equivalent of almost $5,000 a year in disposable income. That’s a lot of money over which to have authority!

Whether the children in your family come in above or below that number, I think the primary question Roy asked remains pertinent: how do we teach them a charitable or philanthropic mentality? How do we get them to look beyond themselves and their own interests? Read the rest of this entry »

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