Character Education in the Home
CHILDREN & FAMILY Resources
ForGenerosityvsStinginess
Carefully managing my resources so I can freely give to those in need
Generosity–A Family Resource
Faith Committee, Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky
Contributed by Trudy U. Pettibone
Pastor, North Creek and Minerva Baptist Churches, North Creek, New York
December 2004.
A Four Week Family Devotional
Generosity
“Carefully managing my resources so I can freely give to those in need.”
I will. . .
-share what I have with others
-recycle
-not expect anything in return for my generosity
-give of my time and talents
-praise the good I see in others
Week One –I will share what I have with others.
Genesis 45:21-28
Background: Joseph was an Israelite young man sold by his brothers to a merchant caravan. Through a chain of events, all of which proved his honesty and desire to please God, he became a ruler in Egypt. Pharaoh put him in charge of collecting and storing grain during seven years of unusual blessing so that it would be available during seven years of famine. Joseph received this position because he had interpreted Pharaoh’s dream in which God had given warning of the famine to come. Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain 20 years after selling their brother and did not recognize him, but he recognized them. Eventually, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and instructed them to return to their home and bring their father and families to Egypt so Joseph could care for them.
Day One: Genesis 45:21-22
When he sent his brothers back to Canaan to bring their families, Joseph provided everything they would need during the journey. He also gave them some clothing, giving his brother Benjamin extra garments plus some money. Although Joseph had 12 brothers, Benjamin was the only brother from the same mother, so he was very special to Joseph. He was the youngest of the twelve and was only a child when the others sold Joseph.
Talk with your child about things that separate families, such as moving, divorce, death, kid-napping, runaways, etc. Talk with them about how when we see someone we care about a lot, someone we have not seen for a while, we often want to do special things for them. Sometimes we like to give them things. I remember when my grandfather used to come from Pennsylvania to visit us in Florida, he always brought some special foods that we liked and couldn’t obtain in Florida.
It was God who put Joseph in the position where he could give his family all they needed. God provides for all our needs. Help the child recognize that we can give to others because God gives to us.
Lead the child to pray in thanksgiving to God for providing all our needs.
Day Two: Genesis 45:23-24
Explore with the child what some of the “good things” on the ten donkeys might have been.
Joseph tells his brothers not to argue. Some of the things the brothers might have argued about were: who was the guiltiest for selling Joseph; whether or not they would bring their families back; was Joseph really going to forgive them? Discuss some of the things the child has argued about with siblings or friends.
Lead the child to pray that they might always give generously to others, not just “things”, but also forgiveness and kindness.
Day Three: Genesis 45:25-26
Joseph’s father, Jacob, thought Joseph was dead. This was because his sons had presented a bloody garment to him 20 years before, letting him believe that a wild animal had killed his second-youngest son. Now, he could not believe his sons when they said that Joseph was alive and ruling in Egypt!
Talk with your child about taking a trip. What are some of the things that might get packed? How would these compare with some of the things Jacob might have taken on his trip?
Lead the child to pray for family members and friends who are far away.
Day Four: Genesis 45:27-28
Once Jacob realized that his son was really alive, he was ready to go! The trip from Canaan would have taken several days. Joseph had provided things to make the trip as comfortable as possible. Get your child to draw a picture of how Jacob might have felt as he got closer and closer to Egypt. Talk about the child’s experiences of going to see someone they have not seen for a long time. Help the child recall their excitement.
Joseph’s family lived in Egypt for many years. Joseph, through the guidance of God, had provided for his family in a time of famine. Joseph could have kept all the grain for the Egyptians, but he shared it with other countries, not knowing that his own family would show up. When they did, Joseph gave them not only food and supplies, but forgiveness. Because he loved God, Joseph was very generous.
Talk with your child about being generous with materials and loving acts. Talk about ways God has provided for your family. Encourage the child to be generous because God is generous with us.
Lead your child to pray that they will always recognize the things God provides.
Supplemental Activities for the Week: As Christmas approaches, help your child find some type of community activity in which they can give some of their things to help someone else. Encourage them to be generous in quality as well as quantity.
Help the child make a list of his or her positive qualities, such as joyfulness, kindness or honesty. Encourage them to practice these generously, keeping a journal of times when they were generous and times when they were not.
Plan an imaginary trip with the child to some exotic land far away. Talk about all the things you would pack to take with you, how you would travel, who you would want to go with you and the things you might see. Make it as exciting and unusual a trip as possible.
Week Two: I will recycle
1 Samuel 21:1-9
Background: David was a shepherd who was anointed by Samuel to one day be king over the people of Israel. Presently, Saul was king. Before he became king, he went to see his brothers in the army of Israel. The army was fighting the Philistines and their champion, Goliath. When David saw the nine-foot tall man, he knew God could help him defeat this foe of Israel. David knocked the giant down with a stone and then chopped off his head with Goliath’s own sword. Sometime later, David is running from King Saul, who is trying to kill him because he does not want David to become king.
Day One: 1 Samuel 21:1-3
As David fleas Goliath, he stops at the sanctuary in Nob. The priest recognizes David, and wonders why he is there alone. David, probably to protect the priest, makes up a story about being on a special mission from Saul. He then asks the priest what he has to give to David to eat.
Talk with the child about being afraid of people. Maybe there are people at school that the child tries to avoid because of fear. How does the child avoid this person? How does the child feel about being afraid of a schoolmate?
Lead the child to pray that God would help them not be afraid of others.
Day Two: 1 Samuel 21:4-6
In the places where people worshiped God, bread was put out on the table as a symbol of the Presence of God (Exodus 25:30). Only the priests or their helpers were supposed to eat this bread. The bread was replaced with fresh, hot bread every day. As they fled from Saul, David and his men became hungry. Since David promised that he and the young men who were with him had met the requirements for holiness that allowed them to eat the bread, the priest gave it to them.
The priest was very generous in giving the bread to David. This bread was symbolic bread, the symbol of Christ, the Bread of Life. Jesus “recycled” this story in the gospels (i.e. Luke 6:4) to explain his disciples’ act of eating (picking) grain from the field on the Sabbath. Sometimes we have to be generous in allowing people to do things that they are not supposed to do. Jesus made a lot of exceptions for things people expected him to do. He acted in love, not according to rules made by someone.
Talk with your child about times when they may have been allowed to do things they normally would not be allowed to do. Explain “special circumstances” to the child. Help the child understand what an exception is. Help the child understand that we make exceptions because we love.
Lead the child to pray that they will always love people enough to know when special exceptions need to be made.
Day Three: 1 Samuel 21:7
This verse goes with something that will come later in the story (22:9 and following). The man who is present reports to King Saul that David visited the priest and the priest gave him bread. Bad things happen as a result. This man had no love for David, so he could not be generous in allowing him to get away from Saul. He probably thought that Saul would be very generous with him because he told him about David and the priest.
Lead your child to pray that they would always be kind to others and never do anything to deliberately hurt anyone.
Day Four: 1 Samuel 21:8-9
Again, David makes up a story for the Priest because he does not have a sword. It is not clear why he would think that the priest would have a sword. Anyway, the priest tells him that he is holding the sword of Goliath, the sword that David had used to kill Goliath. David recognizes the value of the sword, and takes it with him.
David used the “recycled” sword as he continued to flea Saul. He used it to cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, when he is secretly able to get close to Saul (1 Samuel 24:1-15). He could have used it at that time, and others, to kill Saul. David could not kill Saul because he knew God had appointed Saul as king, and David would not go against God. David was very generous in his behavior toward Saul.
Talk about how we can hurt with words as well as with our hands. Talk with the child about loving someone who might be trying to hurt them. It is an act of love to be generous in our behavior toward those who are trying to hurt us.
Lead the child to pray that they will learn to love those who don’t love them.
Supplemental Activities for The Week: Help the child learn about recycling. Recycling materials is a way of being generous with our environment, saving our earth for future generations. We can also recycle ideas, stories, jokes, songs and other things we can’t touch or feel. In recycling these things, we are being generous to share with others things that are special to us.
If your community has a recycling program, encourage the child to be in charge of the family recycling. If there is no community recycling, help the child learn what might be involved in starting one. This could be a good lesson in civics, politics, planning, communication, lobbying and many other useful abilities that might be recycled in later years.
Week Three: I will give of my time and talents and not expect anything in return for my generosity
1 Samuel 1:11, 20, 23-28
Background: Hanna was married to a man with two wives. The other wife had children, but Hannah had none. The other wife made her life miserable. The story begins as Hannah makes a promise to the Lord.
Day One: 1 Samuel 1:11, 20
Hannah promises the Lord that if he would give her a child, she would give that child to the Lord for his whole life, consecrated to the Lord, even before his birth. God honored Hannah’s request and gave her a son, whom she named Samuel.
Talk with the child about how wonderful it is to be waiting for a special baby to be born. Help the child understand some of the plans that might have been made in expectation of his or her birth. Share with the child some of the special moments surrounding his or her birth. Be sure the child knows how much they were looked forward to and how loved they are now.
Lead the child to pray that they might feel the love of God and the love their parents have for them.
Day Two: 1 Samuel 1:23-24
After Samuel is born, Hannah does not go up to the annual sacrifices (worship) until after the child is weaned and she can take him to the priest. She wanted to wean the child (complete the time of nursing) so that the child is not dependent on her anymore. This means the child was probably three or four years old before she took him. Be sure the child understands that there was only one way to feed the baby at this time, and the nursing was either done by the mother or a wet nurse.
The things Hannah took with her—a bull, flour, and wine–were sacrifices that she made to the Lord. This was done to show how happy she was and how thankful she was for the child God gave her. Help your child explore different things you might do to show how thankful you are for the child God has given you.
This was a very special trip to the place of worship. Hannah would be coming home, but Samuel would not be. Samuel was going to be staying at the tabernacle to learn how to be a priest. Talk with the child about how Hannah must have felt, knowing she would be leaving her little boy.
Lead the child to pray in thanksgiving for loving parents.
Day Three: 1 Samuel 1:25-26
The sacrifice of the bull was made. This was the first gift for the Lord. The child Samuel was the second gift. The woman reminded the priest (Eli) that he had seen her praying for this child. She had prayed silently, but moved her lips, and Eli thought she was drunk. When she told him she was not drunk, but was making a request of the Lord, Eli blessed her and said that God would grant her request. The woman had wanted only a son, whom she was willing to give up to the Lord.
Talk with the child about some things they have prayed for. Have they ever prayed for anything in order to give it away?
Lead the child to pray that they might be willing to generously do things and give things for the benefit of other people.
Day Four: 1 Samuel 1:27-28
Hannah now surrenders her child to the Lord’s service. The idea of giving a child up for the Lord is alien to anything we know today, so it may be difficult for the child to grasp the concept. Samuel’s mother brought him a new ephod (worship garment) every year, but that is the only contact they had with each other. Help the child imagine what it would be like to only get to see their mother one time a year.
Hannah had made a great sacrifice. She had prayed for a child, received the child, cared for him for a few years, and then turned him over to the priest at the tabernacle. She expected nothing in return for her gift, but God did give her a blessing: she had other children (c.f. 1 Samuel 2:21).
Few gifts are as special as a child. They are special when God gives them to us, and more special when we give them back to God. Today we do that symbolically when we dedicate our children to the Lord, or maybe when we have our children baptized. This is a way of saying that we are grateful for the gift of the child, and so we are committing ourselves to training that child to live for the Lord. Talk with your child about his or her dedication or infant baptism. Tell them what it meant to you, and what you expect it to mean to them as they grow old enough to understand.
Supplemental Activities for the Week: Since we are still in the month of Christmas, talk with the child about different kinds of gifts they can give other people. Help them understand what it means to give of themselves. Explore with them ways of generously giving of themselves without expecting gifts or anything else in return. Help them think of ways of giving actions rather than things, such as doing chores, reading for elderly people, writing letters for others, etc. Maybe the child could create a “coupon book” of things they might do for a special family member or friend throughout the year.