Teaching Your Kids to Make Jesus Bucks

When I was in college I worked at Foley's department store. I started off in the clothing department and more times than you can imagine I would find dressing rooms completely destroyed. Women would try on clothes and wad them up in piles in the room and then leave the mess for us to clean up. One time, I discovered that pile had actually been peed on.

We live in such an entitled society in America, one in which many people think that if they can't have something they can and should destroy it. They don't appreciate or respect other people's property, or items others have worked hard to be able to afford.

The same scenario is true when you walk through most any store- items have fallen on the floor or been knocked off, and rather than pick them up, many just leave them or walk by them.

I have made it a point to pick these items up. Maybe because of my time at Foley's, but also because I think I am teaching my kids something when they see me do this. When I hang a shirt back up that I didn't knock down but was about to step on, I show my kids respect for things that are not ours. When I tell my daughter to pick up the toy she knocked off the shelf at the store and put it back where it belongs, I am showing her that she is responsible for taking care of things whether they are hers or not.

When we are in the bathroom and there are paper towels all over the floor instead of the trashcan, I will use another towel and pick them up and put them where they belong. It is really sad how many think others are paid to pick up after them.

I do all these things whether my girls see me or not, and I thought about how I can teach them to do the same with their kids. I thought of thinking of these small acts as earning 'Jesus Bucks.' While the Bible says we cannot earn our way to Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9 — "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."), it does say faith without good deeds is wrong (James 2:26 — "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."). And, it says store up for yourself treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20 — "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.").

I see each of these small acts as a little 'Jesus Buck' I can teach them to store up for themselves in Heaven. They are not doing these acts so anyone can see them (Colossians 3:23 — "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."). They are doing them because it is right. They are doing them because it brings Him glory when we respect others and ourselves (1 Corinthians 10:31 — "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."). I want them to learn this habit so that they can teach their own kids one day through watching their mom and then learning the 'why' behind it.

Imagine if more moms were teaching their kids how to earn 'Jesus Bucks' rather than looking out for themselves and how the world might serve them. What a more thoughtful and happier generation we might have.