Learn How To Sacrifice

We are told no by our parents because they want us to learn the value of a dollar.  If we were given everything we wanted, we wouldn’t know how to respond in a time of stretched finances.  We have seen the result of children who are never told no.  Words are inadequate to express how we feel, when we accomplish something because of our sacrifice.  I remember earning my first degree.  I still can’t place into words how I felt to earn something that no one could take away from me.  What about when you receive that first car title, after making that last car payment?  How about that feeling of being debt free?  Any of these actions required some kind of sacrifice.

However, the sacrifice was worth it because there was greater on the other side of the sacrifice.  We know how to sacrifice, but have we taught our children how to sacrifice?

Our children are living in some of the best of times.  My generation has been able to provide for our children some of the things that our parents were unable to provide for us.  We have paid college tuition, purchased cars, paid monthly rent and supplied our children with designer clothes and high-end electronics.  We have done all of these things, but have we taught them how to sacrifice?  Have we taught our children how to save money, buy a CD (and I am not talking about a music CD), purchase shares of stock, or just the lesson of delayed gratification.  The last thing we should want is our children living paycheck to paycheck because they are wearing their money on their backs and feet.

Let’s teach them how to sacrifice.  Sacrificing builds good character and productive citizens who don’t mind helping someone else along the way because they know what it’s like to persevere through difficulty; and they recognize that they could be in the same position.  So, what lesson in sacrificing will you be giving this week?