The Rich Benefits of Serving from an Early Age

It’s not uncommon that we as parents encourage our kids to volunteer and engage in acts of service to others within our community, but how many of us wait until our kids are teens before we begin encouraging the benefits of volunteering?

The start of grade school is actually an excellent age to get our kids to embody a servant’s heart. Children as young as 5 can begin to develop lifelong skills and character to grow up to be active and dedicated members of the church. Here are some of the benefits to getting our youngest kids to serve:

A Healthier Future
Children who serve others from a young age are much less likely to choose risky behaviors as older teens or adults. Studies of American children have shown that kids who volunteer consume less alcohol and skip school less. Service to others helps foster a mindset of responsibility which may help your children grow into more responsible young adults. As kids volunteer and experience empathy for others, they are less likely to exhibit self-seeking or self-destructive behaviors.

Experiential Education
When kids learn through experience rather than lectures or textbooks, they tend to better retain their lessons. What’s more, children who volunteer and serve others enjoy more psychological, social, and intellectual growth. This growth helps kids enhance their confidence, responsibility and overall interest in learning. Such developments encourage positive growth that accompanies a child into adulthood.

Better Life Skills
When our children serve others, they gain new skills and perspectives. This experience in service helps stimulate the skills necessary for a productive adulthood. Our kids can learn responsibility for task completion, timelines, reliability, kindness, and getting along with others.

Christ-Like Love
Jesus gave all believers the commandments to love God and love others. Bringing children into service from an early age helps introduce them to Christ’s love and how they might reflect the nature of God to a world that has given up on the church and Christianity. People are moved by the love of Christ because it is an active love that meets their needs. Children learn how to live a genuine life of love when they learn how to volunteer and meet the needs of others.