Training our Kids for Battle!
If I am not careful to consistently keep my eyes on God, I can easily find myself becoming fearful of the future that lies ahead for our kids. Not just my own kids, but the kids of this generation. Our kids are in a war and Satan knows that as time draws closer and closer to the moment when Jesus will come and rescue us all from this fleeting earth, he needs to be playing all of his cards right. Satan has his eyes on our marriages, our families, and more than anything, our kids; and without consistently surrendering to the cross, we allow open doors for him to move in and setup camp!
Why do I believe we are in a WAR? Because the Bible tells us so.
1. 1 Peter 5:8 says: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.“
That verse should SHAKE you as a parent. That verse should SHAKE you as a christian. The Bible is famous for using clear, visual word pictures to paint an idea in our minds. Have you ever seen a lion attack? I haven’t, so naturally I googled it. Scary!
2. 1 John 4:4 says: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
Our kids are in a battle field. It doesn’t matter if they are in a public school, a christian school, or homeschooled. Our kids need to know when the enemy is up against them and they need to be given the tools to overcome those battles. We need to give them the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is active and alive within them and that they are fighting a battle that God has already won.
3. Eph. 6:11-17 says: “Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Our battle is not of flesh and blood but against the powers of dark. You guys, our kids are daily engaging in spiritual warfare and they need to know it. They need to be able to recognize the devil and his schemes so that they can be properly armoured and prepared to handle these situations. Having your child attend church, or a local Sunday school club is not enough. Simply acknowledging that your child is a Christian but then refusing to open your Bible to teach them the truths is not enough! Telling them that if they accept Christ as their saviour, they will go to Heaven instead of Hell and then stopping at that is also not enough. Our kids need more! They need to see the truth being lived out with visible evidence in our lives. They need to see the authority figures in their lives actively engaging in battle through prayer and the word of God so that they have Godly examples to imitate.
4. Deuteronomy 5:5 says: “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.“
When you were a child or a teen, do you remember being in situations that would tempt you to do something you knew was wrong? I do. And time and time again I can remember making the wrong decision because I was not prepared in confidence to make the right decision. Even though I believed in God, I did not feel that He was alive and acting within me; and that through Him, I could have the confidence to take a stand. I feared the peers and the situations I was up against, and slowly overtime, this weakened my witness and my relationship with God because I was more interested in pleasing others (the enemy), than I was in pleasing God. That’s the scary part. We all know the difference between right and wrong. But the more you fail in battle, the more you feel maybe you were never meant to fight in it at all, and the more attractive it will appear to be living a life outside of the battle field. That is how the devil attacks; fight by fight, moment by moment. We need to train our kids to not be fearful of the enemy because the battle has already been won. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:33
5. John 10:10 says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
This is why we are in battle. This is why I teach my kids to fight. There is a raging battle for our souls and the souls of our children. Not only do I want to instil this in the lives of my own kids, but I want them to grieve for the hearts of their friends and others that come into their lives that also need the truth. I want them to pray for others. I want them to disciple others. I want them to be ready to give an account of their faith on a limb, and to be confident in the Word of God.
These children do not belong to us. But they have been entrusted to us and it is our job to speak the whole truth into their lives as often as we are able.
Deuteronomy 11:19 – 25 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea. No man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.”
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