The Generous Heart of a Child

This morning was as normal as any other morning in my house. We woke up, put the coffee on, and started getting the family ready for the day. Our summer schedule is pretty relaxed, and we always have time to talk over breakfast about what the plans are for the day, what the baby is discovering, or what Lego creation has come to life in the past day in our ten-year-old’s room. This morning was no different. The baby was in his high chair, munching on some toast. My wife headed to her home office to get the day started at work. Davey, our ten-year-old, was enjoying some Chocolate Cheerios, and I was having an egg with toast. Davey and I were talking about the day ahead, and catching up on yesterday’s events, as he had spent the day with his grandparents. All of a sudden, he remembered that his grandmother had given him ten dollars, and he produced a folded up ten-dollar bill from his pocket to prove it to me.

I went through my usual dad speech. We have been teaching him about money as our family has been doing Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University with our small group. It went something like this: “That’s great son! It’s your money, so what do you want to do with it?” I was expecting the usual response following the methods that we are teaching him – 10% would go to the church, 10% would go to savings, and the rest would go to his spending money. I was not at all prepared for his response. He said, “I want to put it all in give.”

As though I had not heard him, I said, “Well, why don’t you give 10% to the church, put 10% in savings, and then you can spend the rest.” He looked at me with an almost pitiful look on his face and said, “No, I want to give it all to the church.” He had such a humble, loving way about him as he said it, and I instantly realized that I was witnessing the work of God in my son’s heart. I told him that I loved his generous heart, and then I sat and finished my breakfast in thoughtful silence.

On the way to our bedroom to finish getting ready for work, I stopped, hoisted him up on the couch, and gave him a huge hug. I held him in my arms, loving father to son, and said, “Davey, don’t ever lose that generous heart!”

As I let the water run down over me in the shower, I was so convicted about my own heart. How could I, the pastor, try to talk my son out of giving all of his money to the church? I realized that I was watching the Widow’s Mite story from Mark 12 play out in my own kitchen. For a ten-year-old, ten dollars might as well be a hundred. Ten dollars is actually two weeks’ pay for our son. He does jobs around the house to earn five dollars commission each week. I stood there, asking myself this question: “Am I willing to give two weeks’ pay to God, without a second thought?”

I left the house, hopped in my truck, and headed for the church. On the way, all I could think about were the events of that morning in our house. God spoke to my heart as I was driving, and reminded me that it is not about the amount of money that Davey gave, or that I give. The lesson that God wanted to teach me is that I need to have the generous heart of a child, remembering that everything I have comes from God. Davey wants to give everything that he has to God! I want to be like my son! Davey made me want to give God everything that I have today. I want to give all of my effort, all of my skill, all of my talents, gifts, and abilities. He made me want to commit my entire life to God once again, with reckless abandon.

We should all learn from the generous heart of a child. Oh, Lord, help us all to give ourselves to You with such complete devotion!