A good man leaves an inheritance [of moral stability and goodness] to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner [finds its way eventually] into the hands of the righteous, for whom it was laid up. Proverbs 13:22 AMP

Loans are commonplace and have been throughout human history. And any that I’ve known about had two things in common, principal and interest.

For instance, in buying a house, most folks put up a certain amount toward a down payment and seek a lending institution in borrowing the rest. When they make that monthly payment, a portion goes to the principal and the rest to the interest.

For some, it’s common knowledge that this payback is not a 50/50 deal. As a matter of fact, in the early days of the loan, most of that monthly payment goes to the interest category. But for the unsuspecting first-time home buyer, this can be quite a wake-up call.

To me, children make home worth the investment. And no matter how much you are able to pay on that mortgage a month, the most important payout will be the daily sort. Because long after that house is paid for and leveled to the ground, the moral coins you filled those “precious human coffers” with will be paying interest in a generation you will never see, but will thank you just the same.

Stop hustling so hard to give them everything in style and on television. It doesn’t last (look at the pictures of when you were in school and see what the style police told you was “in”). Nice things are nice, but if they jeopardize right being right and wrong being wrong, or love being love and hate being hate and their proper place in life, they are not so nice in the end.

So never send “stuff” to represent you in your absence. Chances are, you could wind up bankrupt when it’s all said and done. Never forget, there is no substitute for YOU in your children’s life.