The Happiness of Children Is Not in the Wealth Their Parents Leave Them
March 31
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
March 31
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
Parents are most often pursued by the thought: “What will my children be left with after me?” This thought is, in a sense, a good one, for who, indeed, if not parents, ought to care for the future happiness of their children? But the same thought becomes sinful and harmful when it oversteps its proper bounds. And for many, it crosses those bounds often. How many people we see who begin to save money — at first without any special attachment to it — for the sake of providing for their children, but then this thrift turns into greed, and a person, without noticing it, becomes passionately attached to money, becomes miserly, and money — nothing but money — fills his entire life. And then there is no longer any concern for Christian upbringing: neither the fear of God is instilled in the children, nor love for God. And how does all this end? Children who are not raised in the law of God, for the most part, plunge at a very young age into worldly pleasures; and when the father or mother dies and the money so greedily amassed for them falls into their hands, they are utterly ruined by it.
Indeed, do we not see many such examples in recent times? Under a father who pays no attention to the religious and moral upbringing of his son and is concerned only with leaving him as many earthly goods as possible, the latter secretly leads a disordered life behind his miserly father’s back; and after the father’s death, one sees that the son has squandered the entire estate, and all the wealth so laboriously gathered for him has turned to dust. What follows from this? That parents must first of all care not about perishable wealth for their children, but about spiritual wealth — that is, to raise them in faith and piety; then to strive to leave them not money as an inheritance, but the example of their own good deeds; and finally, to entrust the future fate of their children not to money, but to God. Then, truly, the children will be happy, because they will be with God and God will be with them. One of the Holy Fathers teaches thus on this matter:
“Why,” he asks the miserly father, “do you not give to those in need? You say: ‘I have children before me, and I wish to leave them rich.’ But if you leave everything to them, you will not appoint them firm guardians. But if you leave them to God — their Caretaker and Provider — this is greater than treasures of gold. Entrust your children to the Providence of God, Who created their body and soul, gave them life, and opened for all the riches of the world. If you wish to leave your children rich, leave them God as their debtor (by giving to the poor), and great will be their recompense” (Prologue, March 31).
Thus it is clear that it is not money that can constitute the happiness of our children, but God alone. And, as you see, God will become their Guardian and Caretaker only when we entrust them to Him with deep faith and strive, through works of mercy, to obtain His mercy for our children. Let us therefore abandon excessive concern for the worldly happiness of our children and instead take special care to leave them, first of all, incorruptible riches. To this end, let us strive to cultivate and strengthen in them the spiritual life, to instill in them from an early age love for God and neighbor, sound understanding of the Orthodox faith, to accustom them to the church of God, to keep them away from bad company, to serve ourselves as a good example for them, and in general to raise them, according to the Apostle, “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). This will be for our children an unshakable wealth, which will truly profit them. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
