The Key to Raising Generous Kids in a Selfish World

Last updated on: September 5, 2017 at 2:14 pm by Dave Willis

The Key to Raising Generous Kids in a Selfish World 2017-09-05T14:14:13-05:00 Dave Willis

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive*.***” –Jesus (Acts 20:35)

My wife Ashley and I, along with our twelve-year-old son, Cooper, and a team of a dozen others from our church, just returned from a life-changing trip to serve the children at Casa Shalom Orphanage in Guatemala. The orphanage provides food, shelter, education and LOVE to around one hundred kids who have nowhere else to go. These kids stories are heartbreaking, but their resilience is inspiring. These kids are also the most generous and sharing people I’ve ever been around.

I’ve been to Casa Shalom four times over the past five years, and each time I leave, I feel like my life has been altered in a new way. I always go hoping to impact the kids in some small way, but I always leave having been impacted by them MUCH more than any impact I might have had. On this trip, the most prominent takeaway was in how these kids share with each other.

One night, we threw the a pizza party and you would have thought they had each won the lottery. They celebrated and danced and feasted like it was the happiest day of their lives. One little boy grabbed a few slices of pizza and took off running out of their humble cafeteria towards the house where the other boys his age slept. I wondered why he would leave the party, so I asked and one of the older kids told me, “There’s another boy back in his house who got in trouble and wasn’t allowed to come to the party. His friend didn’t want him to miss out on the pizza, so he ran back to make sure his friend in ‘time out’ got to taste it while it was still warm.”

Sharing might not sound like a profound concept, but sadly, in our modern world, it has become so rare that when you see it happening, it stands out. You might assume that the people with the most would be the ones most likely to share, but the kids at Casa Shalom have taught me that the amount of your possessions doesn’t impact your aptitude for sharing; it comes through a sense of commitment to others and choosing to value people over possessions.

The kids at the orphanage have so little. Receiving a piece of candy or a small toy that would be a freebie in a Happy Meal would be enough to make these kids light up with joy. If you hand them a bunch of candy, they are much more likely to share it than to hoard it for themselves. Sharing just seemed to be in the cultural DNA of the entire orphanage. I wanted to figure out HOW this happened, because I haven’t experienced anything like it in the USA (even though we have such an abundance of material possessions and comforts compared to what they have).

My wife Ashley gave a small stuffed dog to a little girl named Maria. She squealed with delight with the excitement and high-pitched frequency that only young girls can muster up. She treasured that dog like it was a brick of gold, but a few minutes later, we saw a little boy carrying around the same dog and playing with it. It was the boy’s birthday, and we realized that Maria had given her prized little stuffed animal as a birthday gift. The only thing she wanted more than her toy was the ability to give a special gift to a friend on his birthday. Wow.

I could rattle off stories like this all day, but I’ll share just one more (along with a picture). Ashley and I really connected with a nine-year-old boy named Luis. She gave him her hat and he didn’t take it off the whole time we were there. He insisted on giving us a gift too, so he brought us one of his favorite books. He was so proud to give it to us and we were so humbled to receive it. Here’s a picture…

I entitled this blog, “The Key to Raising Generous Kids in a Selfish World,” and perhaps that title was misleading, because I have so much more to learn on this than I have to teach. What I saw displayed in the everyday interactions of these precious orphans was a gratefulness and desire to share more than I’ve been (so far) able to instill in my own children. Still, I think I learned the “key” from watching these kids teach me a master class on sharing.

I believe the key is NOT giving kids more so they will have an abundance to share. More stuff tends to create more greed more often than it creates more sharing. The key is simply to teach kids to value people over possessions. It’s showing them that love lasts longer than trinkets. It’s teaching them that generosity creates joy and misers end up miserable. It’s basically just teaching them to believe what the Bible teaches about loving others and then allowing them to experience the joy that comes when we actually put it into action for ourselves.

I’m so thankful for the life-changing work happening at Casa Shalom. If you’d be interested in learning more about their ministry and how you can get involved, please visit their site at CasaShalom.net and/or plan a visit to the beautiful country of Guatemala for yourself. Like everyone on our team can attest, it will be a life-changing experience for you!

If this article encouraged you, please share it using the social media links below so we can encourage others too!

Family and Parenthood

Life Tools

Previous Post

August 27, 2017

Is Anything "Off Limits" for a Married Couple in the Bedroom?

Next Post

September 7, 2017 8 Bible Verses About Sex

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Study Family and Parenthood General Inspiration and Encouragement Life Tools Marriage Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month August 2022 May 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king's prayer during a deadly illness resulted in 15 more years of life?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon Josiah Ahab Hezekiah

Books by This Author Books by Dave Willis

See All Titles »