To believe or not to believe is a question we as parents have been asking ourselves and our children often this year. As often as we encounter difficulty in the day-to-day, our faith is tested. We find ourselves in a proofing season that requires us to put hands and feet to what our lips profess. As often as the convictions of our heart move us to take action towards what we say we believe, we have to ask the hard question: do you believe?

The feet that carry the good news of the Gospel are blessed! Part of the Armor of God is the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. As our children grow in their relationship with Jesus and how we, as parents, witness and model Christ-likeness in the ministry of home and family, they will naturally desire to use their talents to glorify God. All we have to do is steward what bubbles out of a willing heart and resist the temptation of being a stumbling block in their life.

Warfare is a sensitive reality that is difficult to introduce and teach to children. The warfare we see and experience in the physical begins in unseen places. Fortunately for the Christian, Scripture outlines how to explain to our children why mankind wars with one another. How our nature was corrupted through the disobedience of one man, Adam, why humanity "wars" with God through its rejection of Jesus Christ, we war within our own flesh, and we war with our fellow man made in God's image. Physical and spiritual war has a stench. It is a foul odor. The enemy of our souls and the world loves it. Teaching our children the truth of what God says in Scripture at age-appropriate seasons is key to raising spiritually mature children prepared to face the hostilities of a fallen and broken world.