As a stay-at-home mother of four little boys, I constantly find myself in the kitchen. There are meals to be cooked, sippy cups to refill, a pile of dishes that seems to never end–and someone is hungry for a snack all the time. The kitchen is truly the hub of activity in our household.
Just above the kitchen sink I have written on an index card “Fight the Good Fight for Their Souls TODAY.” This saying reminds me that I am engaged in a battle for four precious souls who have not surrendered to Jesus Christ yet. It inspires me to continue persevering through the toughest of moments because my children are watching my every move and hearing every word I speak (even if they aren’t heeding it). I have been given the weighty responsibility to teach and train my children in the admonition of the Lord. How I act and react matters. Because I am the one around them all day, every day, I must consistently speak the gospel and show the gospel. I can teach them verses of Scripture, but they must see it in action through me.
Being a mom is not for the faint-of-heart. Not only am I engaging in a spiritual battle for the souls of my children, but I also have to fight my own flesh constantly. There are days I would rather just curl up in a ball and cry or lock myself in a room with a king-sized candy bar. I have to fight the flesh that wants to scream and yell when someone has disobeyed for the umpteenth time in one hour. I have to keep fighting the flesh when I am trying to break up sibling disputes, answer one child’s burning math questions, keep another child from utterly destroying the house, follow a recipe from the cookbook, all while attempting to make a meal that is nutritious and will not cause an uprising from the children. Some days I look at my index card above the sink and think, “Just for today. I need to fight to the end of this day. This day matters. Finish well.”
Life with little children can be exhausting and it would be so very easy to react in the flesh or give up completely. But we must fight the good fight. The souls of our children are at stake. Although God is the one who saves, we must make Him look as attractive as possible to our children. My boys know that I love Jesus because I tell them all the time, but is my love for Him evident in my actions and speech? Is Christ’s love flowing out of me and onto them? Do they want to serve Jesus because they see how much joy it brings me?
I must fight the good fight, not just for the glory of God, but also in hopes that my children will see Jesus in me and want to follow Him. The desire to see the salvation of their souls inspires me to keeping fighting one day at a time.
About Kristy Bruce
Kristy is the wife of Kenneth Bruce, student pastor at Westwood Baptist church in Alabaster, Alabama. She is a stay-at-home mother to her four sons, two of whom were adopted from Ethiopia. Kenneth and Kristy are currently in the process of adopting a daughter from India. Kristy enjoys writing and has a passion for teaching the Word of God and helping women go deeper in their faith.
