I don’t know about you, but it comforts me to know my children are prepared for the battles they are in because of the full armor of God and Him fighting with them! I realize I must show them how to use the armor.
Each day on the way to school, my children and I quote Ephesians 6:14-17 and Galatians 5:22-23. I want them to remember, especially in tense situations, that they are in a war, but they are equipped for it. I also want them to remember the fruit and character qualities they have from the Spirit to give them strength.
Anything in our lives that sets itself up against the knowledge of God or causes us to doubt if God can be trusted is an enemy in this war.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
The only way for us to know when an argument is against God is to know who God is and what He says in His Word. The best way for us to equip and prepare our children to fight in this war over their souls and effectiveness remains for us to train them in the Word. They need to see us reading it, read it on their own, and hear it preached and taught whenever they have the chance church and youth group provide that for them! When our children know the truth, they’re ready and able to fight against the deceptions and lies of the enemy.
A pretension is anything that tries to set itself up above other things. Anything that tries to sneak into first place in the throne of our hearts must be battled. In our children’s lives these pretentious things can be friends, their favorite device, and even us. It’s our job as their disciplers to keep helping them take that pretentious thing down off the throne and show them how to ask God to return where He belongs.
What are the things in your children’s lives that are trying to sneak up onto the thrones of their hearts?