Families… prepare for battle!

The world we live in is a battleground and we must approach with swords drawn. Between the media onslaught praising the casual sex lifestyle, to the Disney channel shows depicting girls as young as 7 swooning over boys, our sons and daughters face a difficult battle ahead on the road to purity and Godly living.

I’ve heard it said that as a Christian, unless you view your life in the context of war, you will misunderstand 90 percent of what happens in your life. We are in a battle, a battle for our marriages, our children, our culture, even our very lives. You see, from the beginning the devil has been trying to destroy us. The Bible calls the devil a “thief”, among other things, and tells us, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10.

Satan will attempt to steal our joy, our peace, our love and even our salvation by lying to us. “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies,” John 8:44. He will lie to us through the magazines we read, books we enjoy, movies we watch, television shows we record, and even through the Internet we allow into our home. I’m not suggesting we all get rid of modern conveniences and live in seclusion. However, I am saying that we are to open our eyes and realize that there is a battle taking place, and our lives are the prize!

God’s Word makes it clear, “I am sending you out like a sheep among wolves, “Therefore be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.” Matthew 10:16

If you read this and think, “But what about my past, what about what I did or didn’t do?” stop right there and realize who is putting those thoughts into your mind. It’s not God. God will never convict you of the past that He has forgiven. It’s not about your past; it’s about your child’s future!

Become Battle Ready:

1. Thank God for His plan and His way. Ask Him to show you how to be Godly parents in order to “train up your children in the way they should go,” (Proverbs 22:6). You may consider family devotional, scripture memory, or prayer together.

2. Understand that there is a war going on for your life and the lives of your children. Put on the full armor of God everyday in order to be prepared for this battle. (Ephesians 6)

3. Pray for God to make you sensitive to things that are not of God that might deceive you or your children. Ask God to give you courage to remove it from your life and home.

4. Remind your children daily of whose they are, who they were created to be, and that God has “good plans for them; to prosper them and not harm them, to give them hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

—Carly Engibous