Children matter on the battlefront

 – extracted from George Barna’s book: Transforming children into spiritual champions

Simply put, if you want to win a war, you must control the battlefront.

In the complexity of the world these days, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that life is ultimately a spiritual battle and that each of us is a spiritual being who must declare a side in the war and then fight to the end for what we believe is truth. In that process, we must identify the boundaries of the battlefront before we can take command of it.

Where is the battlefront today? Is it to be found in the fight for the rights of unborn or the call to outlaw homosexual behaviour? Does it lie within the struggle to get adults to spend more than two hours per week at church in the hope of getting them to read the bible every day? Will it be found at the heart of the culture wars, which pit biblical morality against the garbage imbedded in a lot of the movies, television and music to which we are exposed? Is the line in the sand drawn to separate those who selfishly work to accumulate resources for personal pleasure from those who seek to distribute resources more equitably?

No, I believe the battlefront is found in the minds, hearts and souls of our children. Ever the strategic mastermind, satan knows that if you destroy the character and hope of children, you rule the world! Satan is not omnipotent, but he is intelligent and clever – certainly sharp enough to realize that if you win over children, you have won the war for at least one generation and probably more.

If we do a great job of training children to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul, then we will no longer have to invest time battling over moral and spiritual issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gambling and pornography.

The ways of God will flow naturally from the lives of the people who have embraced Him and His principles. We could trust our children to do what is right, because entrenched in their hearts, souls and minds is an unshakable understanding of what is right and a compelling desire to act accordingly.