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GOOD MANAGERS
MAKING
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IN
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LINDA MEI LIN KOH
tewardship isn’t just for adults. It’s also for children, teens, and youth. Stewardship is taking care of something one does not own. From taking care of our neighborhood to learning how to manage our money, we are training our children that everything belongs to God and that He has given us the privilege of taking care of it for Him. We are God’s managers! According to developmental psych ologists, children start forming habits early in life. Many habits are already in place by age 9, and altering them is more difficult to do than in earlier years. Hence, teaching and training children to be good stewards begins in the nursery. When parents begin teaching their children how to use their money to help the poor, or how to care for their bodies by choosing healthy foods, they are laying the foundation for the patterns of adult life. Ellen White strongly urges parents to “teach your children that God has a claim upon all they possess, and that nothing
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can ever cancel this claim; all they have is theirs only in trust, to prove whether they will be obedient. . . . Habits of economy, industry, and sobriety are, even in this world, a better portion for you and your children than a rich dowry.”* More than ever before, today’s children are bombarded with daily messages that often lead to marterialism and a sense of entitlement and dissatisfaction with life. In contrast, practicing good stewardship encourages an attitude of gratitude and sharing. Thus, teaching children the spirit of giving and sharing during these formative years helps them to adopt stewardship as a lifestyle. Parents can make learning fun by planning activities for children that teach them to take care of the things they have been given to manage. p I Give My Time. Have children list on cards how they plan to spend their time that day. The activities could include doing homework, studying the Sabbath School lesson, praying for one special person, and baking cook-
ies for other children in the neighborhood. Then discuss these activities with them. p U se My Abilities to Help Others. Help children plan a talent show for seniors in your church or in a nursing home. Involve them in singing, reading poems, telling stories, or helping with backdrops or the sound system in the church. p I Give Generously. Let children help pack items for disaster victims; donate one of their good toys to poor children in the community; or give some of their savings to help buy needed supplies for children in the mission. They can use different envelopes to put aside a tithe, one tenth of what they have received from their pocket money and special birthday or Christmas money. One envelope can be for savings, one for spending, and one for mission. Read Proverbs 21:20 together. p I Care for the World God Has Made. They can learn to recycle materials, picking up trash instead of littering. Children need to respect property such as the school, the church, the city, and the roads. We can involve our children in special projects in the community such as picking up trash at the beach. p I Keep My Body Healthy. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19 together and ask the children to list ways they can keep their body temple strong. Make a chart on which they can jot down how much water they have drunk that day, or how many minutes of exercise they have done. Let’s start right now by teaching our children to be good managers for Jesus. It is never too early to help children understand the idea of stewardship. £ Linda Mei Lin Koh is director of the Children’s Ministries Department at the General Conference of Seventhday Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland. * Ellen G. White, Child Guidance (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Pub. Assn., 1954), p. 134.
April – June 2021
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