Pastor Lee and Jiji Concepcion share how they honor God in their family and teach their children to walk in the path of generosity.

How do you manage your finances at home in a way that honors God?

It is always good for a couple to have the same values in terms of finances. With us, it was clear from the start that we will honor God with whatever blessings He will give us. Thus, tithing is very important to us. Though we started our new life together being in debt, we agreed to pay off everything and still put God first by faithfully giving our tithes. Eventually, this mindset helped us manage our finances better and allowed us to pay off our debts.

How do you involve each other in your day-to-day financial decisions?

We know that we always have to work within our budget. If there are financial decisions that we need to make, we always try to sleep on it first—whether big or small. We avoid making impulsive decisions by praying and allowing some time to give us the clarity we need.

In everything, there should also be an element of faith. So out of faith, we do not say “no” to each other, but we set proper priorities and weigh what is important to us as a family. Jiji does not say no to big purchases, but she always checks if they are in line with the values that we want to live by. Doing so keeps us in step with our priorities and budget.

How do you instill the value of tithing to your children?

We do not want to deprive our kids of the joy of giving, so we introduced tithing to them early on. Even before they understood what tithing was, we—as parents—were already setting aside their tithes for the gifts they had received.

It was also intentional, on our part, to make sure that our kids learn the value of generosity: to know that we can give because we have an unlimited God who provides abundantly. As such, when we have opportunities to help others, we allow our kids to take part. Whenever our household help presents needs for her family (tuition, home repairs, medical expenses), our kids are always the first ones to help. Sometimes, on their own, they also proactively give to the church through Real LIFE, our building projects, and missions.

Seeing our children live out the lessons we taught them gives us great joy. The amount they give might not make a big dent in the actual need, but the joy they experience from being a channel of God’s generosity is a reward in itself. After all, it is not the amount but the heart of generosity that counts.

Pastor Lee serves as lead pastor and executive pastor in Victory Pioneer, while Jiji serves as the chief operating officer of Victory and Every Nation Philippines. They have been married for seventeen years and are blessed with five children—Daniel, Ian, Luke, Sabrina, and Andrew.

Beyond the Series is a set of interviews with Victory pastors on topics related to our sermon series.