With Money – the Three Gs Matter

Cultivate Gratitude

One way Jeff and I have tried to inoculate our kids (and ourselves) against discontentment over the years is by fostering a sense of gratitude. This really came home for me one Saturday when the kids and I decided to hop in the car and “just drive around.”

We set out over the hill from our house into an old-money area of Atlanta, where beautiful streets are lined by gorgeous homes with manicured lawns. At ages 8 and 11, the kids were old enough to appreciate them. As we drove around, I heard the kids saying, “WOAH!” and “Look at that one!” at these magnificent houses. Finally, we returned home, pulled into our driveway, and the kids said …

“WOAH!!”

About our house. I wanted to cry. Our kids realized it’s a great home. God has given us a great family with a lot of love and they realized we live in a woah house. Even with its conspicuous lack of kitchen storage.

I will treasure that moment for the rest of my life. And gratitude was at the core of it.

The thing is: None of us is born content. We enter the world in a frenzy to get our needs met, and if we follow that course unchecked, we are headed for a life of self-pity, comparison, and ingratitude. Gratitude is the better way.

The Bible says gratitude helps us to be content in all circumstances, and research bears this out. Two psychologists who have extensively studied gratitude asked participants to write a few sentences each week. One group wrote about things they were grateful for, another group about their irritations. The third group was asked simply to write about things that affected them, with no emphasis on positivity or negativity. Those who wrote about gratitude reported more optimism and fewer doctor visits!

In my own research, when we interviewed couples for Thriving in Love & Money, gratitude rose to the top in strategies couples employ to navigate finances well together.

So, as we seek to leverage the power of gratitude in handling our finances, why not invite our children to join us? In fact, why not teach them? The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Here are some strategies to cultivate gratitude in our kids.