Inheritance wasters

Having lived in a village setup for almost two years now, I’ve had the rare privilege of not just hearing but also seeing inheritance stories—some that end in peace and others that would make you cry.  

But nothing beats the story in scripture about a certain guardian who toiled for years to secure his two children, only for the plot to take a "Wacha tu" turn. The younger son boldly demanded his share, squandered it on what we’d now call “soft life gone wrong,” and returned home looking like he’d lost a wrestling match with life. Meanwhile, the elder son lived in his father’s house but with the attitude of a squatter—completely unaware that the remaining property was his (Luke 15:11-32).  

Now, who’s to blame here? The guardians? Did they hand over the inheritance too soon? Or maybe they failed to clarify to the elder son that “Boss, everything here is yours!”? Or perhaps the problem lies with the children. One was a waster, the other a grumbler. Maybe they never appreciated the sweat behind the wealth or how it was meant to be maintained.  

You know, Solomon, the wisest human to ever walk this earth (after Jesus, of course), once wrote, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…” (Proverbs 13:22). Some versions go ahead to call it a good inheritance. Later in his wisdom-packed journey, he added, “Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and by it there is profit to those who see the sun” (Ecclesiastes 7:11).  

It’s almost as though Solomon grew older and wiser and realized something important: inheritance without wisdom is just chaos waiting to happen. This might explain why many modern-day inheritance disputes explode—they lack wisdom as the key ingredient. Wisdom makes a simple inheritance to become a good-inheritance.

Wisdom teaches us who deserves what and why. It helps us identify who will manage and grow the inheritance and who might… well, treat it like free Wi-Fi. This wisdom can be the difference between families that thrive for generations and those that fight until the land title is in tatters.  

One day, our children will inherit what we leave behind—unless, of course, they go to heaven ahead of us. My prayer is that they’ll neither be like the prodigal son, who lived recklessly, nor the partially engaged elder son, who was stuck at home but mentally checked out.

But here’s the big question: how do we make sure they get wisdom before they get wealth? That’s a fantastic question to ask the Lord during your next prayer time. Every family is different, and wisdom is passed in different ways: through education, exposure, experiences, engagements—you name it.  

So, over to you, dear guardian. Are you ensuring your children are growing wiser so they don’t just inherit stuff, but also the sense to keep it? Wealth without wisdom is like handing a toddler the car keys—disaster waiting to happen.