22A good person leaves an inheritance for their childrens’children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
Proverbs 13:22
The true inheritance we leave our children is not the money they get when we die. Rather, it is the values, skills and wisdom we instil in them today.
Inheritance in the Bible is a subject we should teach our children.
It’s a standing joke in our house. Every time one of my children makes a disparaging comment about:
- my age
- my hairstyle
- my fashion sense
- or The Beatles
… I say, ‘You’re out of the will!’
They find this amusing and seek out opportunities to goad me.
In our house, we can joke about this but it saddens me when I see the broken family relationships that disagreements over an inheritance can cause. Just when families should be drawing closer to comfort one another over the loss of a loved-one, resentments build and the arguments begin over money. Rifts are created and often never repaired.
Inheritance in the Bible
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ 14 Jesus replied, ‘Man, who appointed me judge or arbiter between you?’ 15 Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’
Luke 12:13-15
I pray that my children avoid this trap and it is my hope that I will be able to teach them
- the right attitude towards money and
- the wisdom to manage their own money
… from an early age so that when I go to be with Jesus, they will have no reason to squabble over the inheritance I leave behind.
I would rather teach them the values, financial skills, and the wisdom that empowers them to create their own wealth and manage it as responsible stewards of God’s blessing in their lives.
To that end, I believe in teaching my children about money at every opportunity. Not so that they become lovers of money, but rather, so that they don’t!