Fighting for Your Family's Faith
What is it that makes the devil mad? What is it that is truly encroaching on his kingdom? It's not the street preacher on the corner yelling at people. It's not people going through the motions of religious rituals. Here's what makes the devil mad: a family that honors God with all their hearts. A marriage that lasts a lifetime. Children being brought up to become champions of God's work of love down through the years.
That's what threatens him. And that's exactly why building a faith-filled family is one of the most important things you will ever do.
The Spiritual Battle for Our Children
The stakes couldn't be higher. As Jack Edgar has written, "There has never been a time in history when the children of the world have been more spiritually at risk than they are today. A plethora of competing worldviews and warped values flow freely throughout society, directly into the minds of children, where they stay for a lifetime."
The Call to Fight for Your Family
Back in Nehemiah's time, near the end of the Old Testament, the leader Nehemiah called the people of Israel to take a stand for the Lord. Enemies were trying to stop them from establishing a worshiping community in Jerusalem. His words in Nehemiah 4 ring just as true today: "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your families and your sons and your daughters and your wives in your homes."
Don't coast through this life on a wing and a prayer. Dedicate yourself to building a better family.
You Have an Amazing Opportunity
Statistics show that by far the greatest influence on children, even high school kids, are their mom and dad. For 18 or more years, you get to bring your influence onto those kids. That is an amazing opportunity.
Think about your own parents. You probably know what their opinions would be about most subjects that come up in our world. You know because you watched them. Their opinions just rubbed off on you.
So ask yourself: what do you do that allows your children to see your faith? Do you let them see you studying the Bible daily? Do you let them hear you pray? Do they hear your heart of love for the Father? Do they watch you prioritizing Sunday mornings at church?
It's more caught than taught. They catch your enthusiasm, your heart, your values, and your commitments. Let them hear your commitment to your small group Bible study. Let them hear you say, "I can't miss being with my spiritual family tonight." Let them hear your commitment to contributing some of your income to the work of the Lord.
In Matthew 23, Jesus had strong words about the Pharisees, saying they "do not practice what they preach." We learn Christian character by letting it rub off on us from people who actually live the Word. As parents, we have to live the truth so we don't become like the Pharisees.
Make This the Identity of Your Home
I've heard some parents say, "I don't want to impose my values and my spirituality on my kids. I want them to decide for themselves." I hope you're kidding, because that's the craziest thing ever. Where do you want them to get their values from?
Would you say the same thing about reading? "I love to read, but I don't want to force that on my kids, so I'll wait until they're adults and let them decide." That doesn't make sense.
Joshua faced a similar situation in the Bible. Leading the people of Israel into the promised land, a land with a completely different set of values, he called them to make a decision. And here's what he said in Joshua 24: "If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
They Grow When Given a Chance to Be Responsible
The job of parents is to help kids ultimately become independent adults. The goal each year is to give them more and more responsibility until they are completely responsible for their lives.
It's easy for parents to hover over their kids, ready to swoop down and rescue them from any problems. But children whose parents solve all their problems for them aren't very equipped to solve their own problems in the future. The underlying message of the overprotective parent is: you are fragile. And the message of the overly authoritarian parent is: you can't think.
Ephesians 6 speaks directly to this: "Don't keep scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice." If you build a home on anger and threats, they will carry that relationship style into every relationship in their future.
Your Ceiling Can Become Their Floor
The next generation has a chance to stand on your shoulders. You get to decide how high that's going to be.
Psalm 78 captures this beautifully. God "decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds, but would keep his commands" (Psalm 78:5-7).
Instead of a life focused on money and prestige, how about building a new generation of champions for Jesus Christ.
Reflection
What does your faith look like from the outside? If your children (or the children in your life) were describing your spiritual life to someone else, what would they say? Do they see you reading the Bible, praying, and prioritizing worship or do they mostly see you going through the motions?
What is the identity of your home? Have you made a deliberate, declared decision that your household will serve the Lord? Or has your family's spiritual direction been shaped more by culture and convenience than by conviction?
Are you practicing what you preach? Jesus warned that the Pharisees taught the Bible but didn't live the Bible. In what areas of your life might there be a gap between what you say you believe and how you actually live day to day?
What ceiling are you building for the next generation? What patterns are you passing on? What does it look like for your ceiling to become your children's floor?
Application
Here are some practical steps you can take right now to build faith at home:
Daily: Pray with your family at meals and bedtime. Read the Bible together, or Bible stories if your kids are young.
Weekly: Prioritize Sundays at church with your family. Look for teachable moments at home when life happens and use them to talk about what it means to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
Monthly: Serve others as a family. Go on a spiritual field trip, invite neighbors to dinner, or do a community project together.
Prayer
God, I come before you with a grateful and humbled heart. Thank you for the opportunity to influence the lives of the children you have placed around me. Forgive me for the moments I have gone through the motions without truly living out my faith in front of the people who are watching me most closely. Raise up in me, Lord, the courage of Nehemiah to fight for my family. Give me the wisdom to lead well, the humility to admit when I've gotten it wrong, and the grace to keep going. Let the next generation rise higher in you because of the life I chose to live today. In the name of Jesus, who makes all things new, Amen
