Fight for Your Family Soldiers

Fight for Your Family

Soldiers

As soldiers there will be battles inside the home and from outside the home

Your role is to be strong but not as a dictator

We are called to train up our children in the way they should go Proverbs 22:6

That means the battles you fight need to be defined

Your enemy is not flesh and blood

Your battle is for the vision, values and direction of the home

We get this from our commanding officer, Jesus Christ

We should never lose sight of the fact our children

Will be walking in our shoes sooner than we think

So as you protect them, train them because that is what love does

The families building the wall under Nehemiah’s leadership

Had to fight with a sword in one hand and build the wall with the other   

“The true soldier fights, not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” – GK Chesterton

Don’t let what you hate get in the way of what you love

Soldiers

Every day in some way,

whether we realize it or not…

There are soldiers who are preserving our

freedoms and protecting our country.

They are willing to do this at the expense of family,

convenience, and even the supreme sacrifice of

their very own lives should it be required of them.

They are willing to take a stand to fight

for what they believe in,

for what our country stands for,

as well as for their own friends and families.

This requires a great amount of courage that

is sometimes hard to find in today’s culture.

But not only is this kind of courage

needed on the battlefront, it is

also needed on the home front as well.

This is a similar kind of courage

it takes to be a successful parent.

 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over,

"Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall

at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials

and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord,

who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers,

your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

Notice the threat was defeated…

When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Nehemiah 4:12-15

God had frustrated the enemies’ plot.

Paul speaks to Timothy as to a son and says…

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs —

he wants to please his commanding officer.

2 Timothy 2:3-4

As parents, we are not the commander.

We fight as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

This is so important for fathers and mothers.

“The true soldier fights, not because he hates what is in front of him,

but because he loves what is behind him.” – GK Chesterton

As good parents we would

do anything for our children.

It is the love for our children, our

family, that takes us to the battlefield.

Over all, as a child I had a good heart.

But friends can lead you astray.

Around the corner from where I lived

was a carry out called Bob & Lil’s.

My friend and I would go there to buy candy.

One day after leaving the carry out

my friend offered me some candy.

I knew he did not buy it and

was upset that he would steal.

Over time he not only tried to give me

candy, but teach me the skill of stealing.

To this day I cannot believe I went to the

carryout and not only stole some candy,

but when the man behind the counter

asked if I was stealing, I lied and said no.

That night my guilt got the

best of me and I told my mother.

What I saw from my mother was sadness and pain.

In her disappointment she

attacked the enemy, not me.

She said you know what you need to do.

In the morning I went to Bob & Lil’s and

told them what I did and paid for the candy.

Ephesians 5:28 says…

He who has been stealing must steal no longer,

but must work, doing something useful with his own hands,

 that he may have something to share with those in need.

Ephesians 4:28

My mother did not attack me, but the issues...

The enemy to hate, was stealing.

As parents, we have to be as soldiers.

We must not fight our spouse or children.

But understand the real enemy.

To do this we cannot be military leaders

in our home who bark out orders.

Good military leaders cast vision.

In the heat of the battle, we need to

keep the family focused on the enemy…

A vision that properly directs hate and anger.

Sin is to be hated and it should make us angry.

But our responsibility is to keep the definition clear.

Yes, sometimes the inflection of pain

is necessary to bring realization of evil.

But as our commanding officer

Jesus Christ would point out is…

     

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son

Hebrews 12:6

Verse 7 says…

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.

For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Hebrews 12:7

As fathers and mothers you must

take the courageous steps to protect.

In the heat of the battle, a

good soldier stands his ground.

Not because it is easy, and not because it is enjoyable,

but because it comes with the territory of being a soldier.

There will be times you will have to stand your ground

in the home because it is what you are called to do.

There are many voices threatening us and

telling us to back down and to submit to our

culture of permissiveness in our home.

Voices that would downplay the importance

of our role as fathers, mothers and voices

that would tell us that our family’s rules and

values are outdated and that we need to lighten

up in areas that we instinctively know otherwise.

This comes with the territory of being a parent.

As parents, we know that we are ultimately

responsible for the vision, leadership,

and direction of our home, which requires

us to stand up for our family and our values,

both when it’s easy, and when it’s not.

As parents we want to give our children

what they want and are tempted to give

our children what they want when it

does not aline with the vision,

values and direction of the home.

We must face it, we cannot

give our children all they want.

It is not always a bad thing, but it is something

that would bring hardship to the home.

We all know if we don’t take our children

to Disneyland we are bad parents.

But how many parents have maxed out the

credit cards to take their family to Disney.

This may come as a surprise, but the

discipline and hardship experiences will

have greater payoffs if the vision, values

and direction of the home are kept.

When we overspend, we are stealing

from something or someone somewhere.

When we do not require our children to

take responsibilities in the home, they are

learning to steal from something or someone.

Our heavenly Father gives us

hardships to teach us discipline.

Hebrews 12:7

Not because He does not love us, but because

we cannot survive without personal discipline.

As soldiers there will be battles inside

the home and from outside the home.

Your role is to be strong but not as a dictator.

We are called to train up our

children in the way they should go.

Proverbs 22:6

That means the battles you fight need to be defined.

Your enemy is not flesh and blood.

Your battle is for the vision,

values and direction of the home.

We get this from our commanding officer, Jesus Christ.

We should never lose sight of the fact

our children will be walking in

our shoes sooner than we think.

So as you protect them, train them

because that is what love does.

The families building the wall under Nehemiah’s

leadership had to fight with a sword in

one hand and build the wall with the other.    

“The true soldier fights, not because he hates what is in front of him,

but because he loves what is behind him.” – GK Chesterton

Don’t let what you hate get

in the way of what you love.

Scripture Reading

Nehemiah 4:12-15 NIV

12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.