A Family that Gives Together Stays Together: 5 Key Benefits to Generosity

A Family that Gives Together Stays Together: 5 Key Benefits to Generosity

The culture we establish in our homes sets the stage for how our children and even our children’s children live their lives. When children are used to being served or having the family cater to them, they don’t develop a generous heart. But when families sacrifice and give together, it can have a profound effect on the stability of the family unit and the impact that family can have. Being generous together comes back to bless the family and those around them.

Benefit #1 – A firm foundation

Grounding our children’s viewpoint and lifestyle with a heart of generosity helps them to develop a worldview that is bigger than themselves and gives them a firm foundation to build their lives upon. When life’s storms come, they know how to sacrifice and don’t buckle so easily under pressure.

Benefit #2 – Sharing

In a materialistic world, it can be easy to develop a sense of entitlement or a “need” to have more. Teaching children right from the start how to share and to give to one another, rather than hoarding for themselves, helps to set a heart of giving rather than taking. This helps families to not be consumed with what they own, but to be free to consume what they need and generously give to others what they don’t.

Benefit #3 – Selflessness

Home is where children first learn how to interact with and value others. When children see adults modeling selflessness, parents can help them not just be benefactors of their selflessness, but to display the same attitude and to be thoughtful toward others. Preferring others over ourselves helps them to not seek to be the center of their own world.

Benefit #4 – Sensitivity

When giving is a part of the culture of a family, there is a sensitivity to the needs of others around them that helps the family to thrive as they live out their faith by serving others rather than just surviving. This keeps their hearts tender in a sometimes hardened world.

Benefit #5 – Self-Confidence

Families that seek to be generous individually and collectively have a strong sense of belonging and a healthier self-confidence. When we worry excessively about the self it deteriorates our confidence, but considering and giving to others creates hearts that rise above life’s challenges and overcome.

Having worked with many clients who have learned how to be more generous, the effect of their generosity always has come back to bless them just as much if not more than those they sought to bless. God’s principles of giving bless the family in myriad ways. God’s generosity toward us can give us a unifying purpose of generosity that binds and knits our hearts together.

First featured on Forbes.com