Battles of the War

The pursuit of having Godly children is not easily won. I don't expect it to be. Its a culmination of battle after battle after battle - not all of which are won in favor of the parent. The battles are exhausting and often leave me feeling barely able to walk or keep my eyes open for that matter. Many have offered their opinions as to better ways of fighting the battles... their intentions are often pure but with less than clear vision as to the War at hand. The War I'm fighting is for my children to know and understand the character of God NOT to go to bed without kicking and screaming - that's simply a battle. The War I'm fighting is often threaded through the day to day battles - the child has their human nature fighting at all cost while I'm trying to cultivate in those moments the Godly way of doing things.

THE BATTLES
Don't worry about what's "fair"; don't be concerned with yourself and what is owed to you - think of others before thinking of yourself; do not argue with those in authority over you; speak with confidence and do not be timid; exercise self-control when speaking with confidence and do not speak out of turn but instead in humility; humility is different than being timid!; love your enemy and pray for them; fear is not of the Lord; exercise faith in God even though you cannot see Him because He is real; cherish opportunities to exercise faith in God; be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry; ...

THE WAR

HOPE because they know who God says He is.
Isaiah 26:8 - 'yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts'

FREEDOM because they know what God says He did.
Romans 8:1-4 - ' Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.'

COMPASSION FOR OTHERS because they know for the unbeliever eternal separation from God will be their end and God desires for all to be saved.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 - 'This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth'
Jude - '...they are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord'... 'but you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy'

For those of you with children who are reading this, my prayer for you would be that you remember in the moments of the battle at hand that its not the short-term solution you're worried about but instead the long-term solution of faith in Jesus Christ. The battles are exhausting, as I mentioned before, but they all need to exist for the War to be won in their little hearts. Satan is not getting exhausted, he's becoming more and more persistent with each battle's victory.

Keep your eyes on the prize! In 1 Corinthians it says, 'Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.' Parent in such a way that you can cultivate this in your children - and in yourself! The hard is not bad!

Decide how you want to parent -- what is God calling YOU to as a Mom or a Dad? Do that no matter how hard it gets and let not yourself be persuaded by the perversity of ease and short-term goals. God is eternal and His strength is never ending...

God be with you.