Oh be careful little ears what you hear…

We teach our children not to lie because lying is a bad thing that can lead to serious life consequences. But do we teach our children not to believe lies, as well? This is an important life skill that is usually not addressed in the training of our children. The best way to lead out in this is to be adept at it ourselves.

Our children will be inundated with lies in every arena of their lives. They need to be marksmen at identifying them and shooting lies down before they reach their little hearts. We need to teach them to take up the shield of faith, with which they can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Being skilled at this concept will improve their self-esteem as we teach them who they are in Christ.

Lies from people can be damaging and can separate us from what we know to be true, but lies from our arch-enemy in the spiritual world can be the most destructive in our lives. Lies are Satan’s weapon of mass destruction. I never knew this more than when our older two boys were young. We lived in California during their toddler/preschool years. During this time my husband travelled about half the month, leaving me home with two small children. I struggled personally during this time and was challenged by a dear friend to identify what lie I was believing when I began to spiral down.

So the next time I experienced the emotional spiral I was tuned in and recognized the culprit. The enemy would say to me, “You’re a bad mother.” That was a lie – I wasn’t a bad mother, but it worked – every time – until I began to identify it and call it out as a lie and renounce its power over me. Wow, what an incredible difference once I realized I was in control and could reverse this habit!

When you hear your little blessing repeat something you know is not true – stop right there, whatever you’re doing, and tell them, “That is a lie. The truth is…”. Practicing this will develop a lifelong habit in their life that will help them stay on the high road.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV)

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.