I remember it well: I was in elementary school when dad put me in front of a Fisher-Price chalkboard and showed me that 10 percent of my $2 allowance was 20 cents, which was the amount I was to place in my small, blue offering envelope every Sunday. Fortunately, his lesson stuck; since that day, giving to the Lord has felt absolutely natural.

However, giving isn’t natural for my middle school students. Based on national giving data, it’s not natural for most of their parents either. Discussions about financial giving typically are avoided. Given my dual role directing the middle school ministry and stewardship at our church, I’ve thought about what could be done to engage our middle and high school students to share their financial gifts. I believe it comes down to executing three simple actions.

Connect Their Giving to a Cause
Millennials are a passionate generation, seeking justice for all. Knowing this, youth pastors should find a cause about which their students easily can feel passionate and use that as a giving motivator.

For our middle and high school students, our passion became a 21-year-old Grand Rapids native who now is caring for orphans in South Africa. We discovered she was short on medical supplies, so we took the need to our students. We showed them pictures of her and her orphans, using the orphans’ real names to help our youth connect.

Students responded to the cause by emptying piggy banks and carrying in plastic bags of loose change. They raised the $800 she needed in three weeks, which was significantly higher than the $30 per week offering we’ve been accustomed to seeing when we pass the basket. They became part of her story and responded with abundant giving.

Connect Their Giving to the Word
Interestingly, we think financial discussions are not relevant to our students. Yet, the marketing engines of this country focus billions of dollars on advertising to our teenagers. We must combat these daily spending pressures with biblical truth. The Bible is very clear about what we are to do with our financial treasures: Share them!

In an economy that continues to disappoint, let’s simply point students to God’s Word and its instructions for making sound financial investments in eternity. It is the investment that never erodes and does not depend on the fickle sentiments of an unstable economy.

Connect Their Giving to Each of Them
Our perspective on God’s command to give is often: “It’s mine. I know best how to use it.” Instead, the truth is, “It’s His, and He knows best how to use it.” Connect this to what we know about God. Due to His love for us, He gives us commands that ultimately benefit us. The command to give our treasures toward kingdom-building activities works in the same way. God knows the internal satisfaction that comes from giving toward kingdom building brings far greater satisfaction than keeping every penny. He knows that a hoarding attitude cannot satisfy, and He promises that financial faithfulness will be rewarded (Malachi 2:10).

I’m convinced God has provided every penny needed to run the engines of our earthly ministries. It’s all His, but He only asks for a small percentage! If we are successful in teaching students the value of financial generosity, including the virtue of tithing, students might grow up to be adults who will bless their future church bodies financially (and make life easier for their director of stewardship!).