Thwarting Your Family's Predator

Everything I've ever learned about parenting all in one post!

The Predator is on the move.  As we go blissfully through our daily lives, Satan is prowling through our homes. 

And he is seeking a choice morsel of human soul.  

Satan is targeting our children.

Just as the man-eating lions targeted individuals for their meals, Satan has targeted our children. 1 Peter 5:8 states, “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”   Whether we are aware of it or not, there is a great battle being fought in the world  - and our children are the objective.  Satan has deceived an unbelievable number of our second generation, telling them that Christianity is simply not worth it.  Many others have been paralyzed for one reason or another, rendering them numb, useless in the service of the Lord.  It is a spiritual epidemic sweeping our nation, taking with it our most precious possession: our children.  They are streaming out of our church doors by the thousands, their arms tightly linked with the world, walking lock-step (whether they realize it or not) with the Predator.

Here are some tips I have learned from the real experts, those that have raised godly adult children:

1. Have a joyful attitude!  No one wants what you have if what you have is misery.
2. Be real!  If you don’t truly love God and want to serve Him, what makes you think your children will?
3. Make God your life!  Remember that children are individuals, and they will choose different hobbies than you.  If the Lord is simply a hobby, the kids will simply select something else to enjoy.
4. Discipline early!  If you discipline early and discipline correctly, you will not have to discipline for long.
5. Make your children your ministry!  God has given them to you as a stewardship to Him.  They are not yours, they are His.  Teach and train them as He would want you to, and you will not go wrong.
6. Develop strong relationships with each of your children!  The conduit through which your values pass from one to another is relationship.  If you do nothing else, strive to foster a deep bond with each or your children.
7. Have an excellent marriage!  Do whatever it takes to make it work; pursue your mate with energy and passion.  The effort pays off in your family.
8. Include your children in ministry!  Clean the church, sing together, work a bus route, or visit a nursing home together.
9. Keep communication lines open!  Always be aware of slight nuances in young peoples’ responses to you. 
10. Pray, pray, pray!  Work like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on God.

Satan is always on the prowl, hungry for human souls.  Moving along the fence you have erected, he pushes it, looking for areas of weakness.  Check your fence carefully; he WILL be coming along to look for weak links.  THINK about your family, your unity, your marriage, your relationships. 

Remember that your inside fortifications, your relationships, must be strong.  When your relationships are strong, the outside influences will be ineffective.

Keep rolling on for Jesus, dear ones!