Let us consider the order of God’s government for the family firm. The husband and father is the head of the family and ultimately responsible before God as its general manager.

“The home is an institution of God. God designed that the family circle, father, mother, and children, should exist in this world as a firm. . . .

“The husband is the house-band of the home treasures, binding by his strong, earnest, devoted affection the members of the household, mother and children, together in the strongest bonds of union.

“His name, ‘house-band,’ is the true definition of husband. . . . I saw that but few fathers realize their responsibility.”7

The father is also the main provider in the household. “For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table” (Psalm 128:2, 3).

The father is required to develop habits of industry and train his children in usefulness. “He who has a family is under obligation, as a steward of God, to set a right example to his children. He is to educate them to be intelligent and useful, to employ the strength given them by God in advancing His work in the world. By precept and example he is to train them to be faithful stewards. They are to be educated to realize that they hold in trust lent treasures, which are to be used to the very best advantage in God’s service.

“Teach your children that nothing is to be withheld from God, that all their gifts are to be used to promote His glory. Teach them to cherish a sense of their accountability to use wisely their entrusted capabilities, improving and perfecting them by use. They are accountable for the judicious exercise of every faculty.”8

The father must take the time to work with his children thus exercising his influence over his children. “The father, as the head of his own household, should understand how to train his children for usefulness and duty. This is his special work, above every other. . . . If he is engaged in business which almost wholly closes the door of usefulness to his family, he should seek other employment which will not prevent him from devoting some time to his children. If he neglects them, he is unfaithful to the trust committed to him of God.”9

Habits of industry will naturally develop with the sense of ownership. “The sense of being owners of their own homes would inspire them with a strong desire for improvement. They would soon acquire skill in planning and devising for themselves; their children would be educated to habits of industry and economy, and the intellect would be greatly strengthened.”10 The father must not excuse himself from providing that which is “necessary for the health as well as the morals of his children . . . and provide conveniences to lighten the labor of his wife.”11

He also must show appreciation to his partner in the firm by sharing with his wife of the means that he has acquired by labor. “Give your wife a share of the money that you receive. Let her have this as her own, and let her use it as she desires.”12 “You must help each other. Do not look upon it as a virtue to hold fast the purse strings, refusing to give your wife money.

“You should allow your wife a certain sum weekly and should let her do what she please with this money.”13

In the home, the mother’s responsibility is without equal. She is not only a helpmeet to her husband but, more importantly, she is the teacher in the home.

“The mother is the queen of the home, and the children are her subjects. She is to rule her household wisely, in the dignity of her motherhood. Her influence in the home is to be paramount; her word, law. . . .

“The children are to be taught to regard their mother, not as a slave whose work it is to wait on them, but as a queen who is to guide and direct them, teaching them line upon line, precept upon precept.”14 There is no aspect of the home where her influence is not felt. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil” (Proverbs 31:11).

“She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy” (Proverbs 31:15-20).

By practical application the mother will lead her children to learn for themselves habits of economy, industry, and responsibility.

“Teach [your children] to use their minds as much as possible, so to plan their work that they may do it quickly and thoroughly. Teach them to be prompt and energetic in their work, to economize time so that no minutes may be lost in their allotted hours of work. Teach them neatness and order. If possible, teach both boys and girls how to cook and how to make themselves useful in every department of the home work. Encourage neatness and order. It is your duty so to fit them that they will be capable in after years of caring for their own homes.

“All this takes time. It requires patience. The mind of the mother must be clear, not wearied and burdened with many other responsibilities. You cannot afford to so devote your energies to outside work that you are unfitted for the duty of training your little flock at home. Remember that they are Christ’s property. Learn of Christ daily, that you may be able to impart the knowledge of Him to your children.”15

The children are stewards in training. They belong to the family firm, share in its privileges, and are entitled to belong to the family meetings. “God wants the children of all believers to be trained from their earliest years to share the burdens that their parents must bear in caring for them. To them is given a portion of the home for their rooms and the right and privilege of having a place at the family board. God requires parents to feed and clothe their children. But the obligations of parents and children are mutual. On their part children are required to respect and honor their parents.”16 As an integral part of the family we must enlist their cooperation and as far as possible permit them to enter into its plans.

“In the home training of the youth the principle of cooperation is invaluable. From their earliest years children should be led to feel that they are a part of the home firm. Even the little ones should be trained to share in the daily work and should be made to feel that their help is needed and is appreciated. The older ones should be their parents’ assistants, entering into their plans and sharing their responsibilities and burdens. Let fathers and mothers take time to teach their children, let them show that they value their help, desire their confidence, and enjoy their companionship, and the children will not be slow to respond. Not only will the parents’ burden be lightened, and the children receive a practical training of inestimable worth, but there will be a strengthening of the home ties and a deepening of the very foundations of character.”17

For the development of symmetrical characters, the training of children should include the knowledge of home finances. “Money which comes to the young with but little effort on their part will not be valued. Some have to obtain money by hard work and privation, but how much safer are those youth who know just where their spending money comes from, who know what their clothing and food costs, and what it takes to purchase a home!”18

Under wise supervision, children should learn to manage their own accounts from which they will sacrifice their wants in the benefit of the cause of God and the needy. “Let every youth and every child be taught, not merely to solve imaginary problems, but to keep an accurate account of his own income and outgoes. Let him learn the right use of money by using it. Whether supplied by their parents or by their own earnings, let boys and girls learn to select and purchase their own clothing, their books, and other necessities; and by keeping an account of their expenses they will learn, as they could learn in no other way, the value and the use of money.

“This training will help them to distinguish true economy from niggardliness on the one hand and prodigality on the other. Rightly directed, it will encourage habits of benevolence. It will aid the youth in learning to give, not from the mere impulse of the moment, as their feelings are stirred, but regularly and systematically.”19

“The children may learn to show their love for Christ by denying themselves needless trifles, for the purchase of which much money slips through their fingers. In every family this work should be done. It requires tact and method, but it will be the best education the children can receive. And if all the little children would present their offerings to the Lord, their gifts would be as little rivulets which, when united and set flowing, would swell into a river.

“Keep a little money box on the mantel or in some safe place where it can be seen, in which the children can place their offerings for the Lord. . . . Thus they may be trained for God.”20

“There are many ways in which children can earn money themselves and can act their part in bringing thank offerings to Jesus, who gave His own life for them. . . . They should be taught that the money which they earn is not theirs to spend as their inexperienced minds may choose, but to use judiciously and to give to missionary purposes. They should not be satisfied to take money from their father or mother and put it into the treasury as an offering, when it is not theirs. They should say to themselves, ‘Shall I give of that which costs me nothing?’”21

The parents will set the tone of the manner in which money is used in the home. A lack of system and order concerning finances on the part of parents will instill the same defective character in their children. “All should learn how to keep accounts. Some neglect this work as nonessential, but this is wrong. All expenses should be accurately stated.”22 This means that a simple but accurate method of accounting of income and expenses must be devised. Most importantly it must be kept up to date; otherwise it will not provide the accurate view of the home’s financial standing. This bookkeeping will facilitate economy because most financially draining activities come in the form of incidental purchases that happen to repeat themselves unnoticeably. “Waste not your pennies and your shillings in purchasing unnecessary things. You may think these little sums do not amount to much, but these many littles will prove a great whole. . . .

“The Lord would have His people thoughtful and caretaking. He would have them study economy in everything, and waste nothing.

“The amount daily spent in needless things, with the thought, ‘It is only a nickel,’ ‘It is only a dime,’ seems very little; but multiply these littles by the days of the year, and as the years go by, the array of figures will seem almost incredible.”23

The use of our earnings must be prioritized. “God’s requirements come first. We are not doing His will if we consecrate to Him what is left of our income after all our imaginary wants have been supplied. Before any part of our earnings is consumed, we should take out and present to Him that portion which He claims. . . . A part of this income is to be devoted to the poor, and a large portion to be applied to the cause of God. When that which God claims is rendered to Him, the remainder will be sanctified and blessed to our own use. But when a man robs God by withholding that which He requires, His curse rests upon the whole.”24 Secondly, save systematically a portion of the income. This can be ten percent as is usually considered adequate or an amount that you designate. “Every week a portion of your wages should be reserved and in no case touched unless suffering actual want, or to render back to the Giver in offerings to God.”25

“After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them” (Matthew 25:19). He asks His servants to give an account of their stewardship. Fathers and mothers will be asked, “Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?” (Jeremiah 13:20, last part). By the grace that God grants us we may answer on that day, “Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.”

“It is the privilege of Christian parents today, as it was the privilege of God’s people of old, to bring their children with them to the Promised Land.

“You want a household for God; you want your family for God. You want to take them up to the gates of the city and say, ‘Here am I, Lord, and the children that Thou hast given me.’ They may be men and women that have grown to manhood and womanhood, but they are your children all the same; and your educating, and your watchfulness over them have been blessed of God, till they stand as overcomers. Now you can say, ‘Here am I, Lord, and the children.’ ”26