Last night I was talking with one of my kids about the big word from FX. He told me the word, the definition, and then asked if we just make those things up. Kids and the things they say! My kiddo didn’t seem too eager to talk about giving things away. As we talked I began to understand why. To him generosity = give toys away. This kiddo has a strong attachment to his stuff. Why or what to do about it are somethings I don’t know. But I do know it triggers my parent shame….I have created an ungrateful kid who only cares about the things of this world and will never love God more than things.
Wow! As I type those real thoughts I see how I’m basing my worth on his performance. I believe I should be able to change my child’s materialistic heart with my great parenting skills. Why do I think great parenting skills will change the heart of my kids?! In Ezekiel 11:19-20 God promises this: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. They will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” God is the only one capable of changing our hearts toward generosity or any other character trait.
I’ll start again today and trust God to work in my kids. I will trust Him with the strong tie toys have to my kiddo’s heart. God is clearly at work already. If all my child can hear is “give away your toys…” when asked to give something away to make someone’s day, it is God showing us the heart ties. I do that too! Whenever I hear about giving, I immediately think of money. God is showing me my heart ties. Often on a Sunday morning at New Covenant I hear Pastor Bob talk about my FIST – Finance, Influence, Skills, and Time. Slowly God is using Bob’s words to change my heart toward giving. God is opening my eyes to the many things He has given me to share. Those same things are true for my kids. As my kiddo and I were talking last night, God brought this FIST idea to my mind and I shared it. It seemed to really help open his eyes also.
This week I want to invite you to expand your family’s idea of generosity. Here is what I tried:
I used a marker and wrote what makes up their FIST on each of my kiddo’s fingers.
- Finances – Toys, Money (You could give your toys to someone and make their day)
- Influence – The people they impact (You could play with someone who is playing alone and make their day)
- Skills – Things you’re good at or things you know how to do (You could help someone finish a chore and make their day)
- Time – Choosing to do something with someone (You could join your sibling in their game and make their day)
We then talked about the act of closing our hands and keeping it all for ourselves or opening our hands and giving freely of what God has given. Remember, we serve a God of unlimited resources. There is always more where that came from!