Are We Engaged In The Right Battle?

One day last week my son asked me to play a game of chess with him. He had it already set up and was so excited that I agreed to join the game. I was not really engaged, though. My body was playing chess, but my mind was working on something else altogether. It took him all of three moves before I heard “check mate.” He rubbed in that he had beaten me again, told his siblings and his daddy, and generally had a great time with it. I on the other hand realized in an instant the importance of fully engaging in the battle into which I have been called.

As believers, we are in a war right now on many fronts. I don’t think anyone would question that. I wonder, though, if we are fighting the right battles or if we are allowing Satan to make us impotent because we have taken our eyes off the true prize and have no energy or manpower left for the battles that really need to be fought.

The Battle For Home Educators- Fight with the end instead of the means in mind!

We have largely allowed ourselves to be taken out of the spiritual battle as home educators. Satan has caused us to focus and even to fight for home education so much that we have lost sight of the true end we sought initially– that we as families would love the Lord our God with all our hearts and that we would be girded up to fight His battles when they come our way.

I have seen this misplaced loyalty in the news and even through our social media. When someone posts a juicy common core article or  homeschool freedom article, the engagement numbers soar. But a discipleship post sits primarily dormant. This should not be!

Yes, we need to be informed about what’s going on- but not so we can fume or be afraid. No! We must be informed, so that we, like the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus, can intelligently use what people in culture know and understand to point them to Christ. (His speech in Acts 17 is brilliant, weaving culture and history together to point them to Christ.)

The real fight that is ragingWe must rather fight this battle with the end, not the means in mind. The battle should never be strictly for our right to home educate without government influence, though we certainly want to see that maintained. The real fight that is raging, though, is for our families- for the very souls of our children and of our children’s children. That is the battle in which we must engage. It is imperative that we take these freedom-filled days of home education to instill in our children a rock solid foundation of love and devotion to Jesus Christ alone. Every other foundation we would try to give them can be broken down but not the Cornerstone of God’s Kingdom!

The Battle For The Heart of our Children

We must use these days to train ourselves and our children about what love for Jesus looks like– for what is in our hearts will always come out. Love for Jesus will overflow into a life lived powerfully, not running from the skirmishes we encounter. Love for Jesus must manifest a sincere love for people, for Jesus Christ came to seek and to save those who were lost. (Often lost people are very unlovable and disagreeable, but those are the ones Jesus came for. We must never forget that we were once counted among them.) Love for Jesus and a passion for serving Him at all costs and instilling those things into our children must be our highest objectives as parents. There is coming a day very soon when the battles that rage in our land are going to necessitate that we take hard stands and dangerous positions as believers. Are we preparing our children for that day?

Oh that we will get our hearts and our minds in the right battle! May we not be so distracted by the fear of losing our rights to home educate autonomously that we miss the time we have to build a solid foundation for our family that is capable to stand even when the real battle comes to our front yard. Our family started Teach Them Diligently with this battle in mind. There will be a ton of material presented that will equip you to be a better home educator, but the real heart of the event is to equip you to be a better parent, to build a stronger family, and to better disciple your children to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and mind. The stakes are high! It is time to gird up, learn all we can, and prepare for battle.

We sure would love to see you there! Register today and gird up for battle. Find a convention near you.

Get involved in the battle through strategic prayer. Join me in praying for our children and marriages.