Do your children and students understand the meaning and significance of this text? Do they grasp how it daily applies to the Christian life?
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)
In preaching on this text, John Piper noted the following:
One of the reasons there is so little deep, earnest, passionate concern for godliness in the contemporary church is that this truth is so little understood—the truth, namely, that eternal life is laid hold of only by a persevering fight of faith. There is today, by and large, a devil-may-care, cavalier, superficial attitude toward the on-going, daily intensity of personal faith because people do not believe that their eternal life depends on it. The last 200 years has seen an almost incredible devaluation of the fight of faith. We have moved a hundred miles from Pilgrim's Progress where Christian labors and struggles and fights all his life until he is safe in the Celestial City. O, how different is the biblical view of the Christian life than the one prevalent in the American church.
…We have been poorly taught. And so I urge each of you to return to the Scripture with eyes opened afresh to learn the doctrine of our text—that:
All Christians Must Lay Hold on Eternal Life by Fighting the Good Fight of Faith
(“Camaraderie in the Fight of Faith,” ©Desiring God Foundation, desiringGod.org)
We do not want our children and students “poorly taught.” They need a strong foundation of truth on which to fight the fight of faith—one dependent on the very Word of God. They need to be trained and equipped in how to use the Word, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, to fight the daily battles with indwelling sin and against the fiery darts of the devil.
This is why we are excited to announce the release of our newly revised curriculum:
Fight the Good Fight—A Study for Children on Persevering in Faith
How is this revision different from the original version?
- A new lesson format makes it easier to teach, with clearly labeled visual prompts and symbols to indicate student participation.
- A teacher preparation section includes a lesson introduction, specific instructions for use of visuals, answer guides, and preparation of additional resources.
- Lesson concepts are more clearly explained and the small group application section has been improved to help the student engage in, and apply, biblical truth.
- Two additional lessons on the elements of salvation have been added, providing a total of 28 lessons.
- The visuals have been redesigned with original illustrations and artwork that can be used in print or electronic format.
What remains the same?
The rich, Bible-saturated, God-centered content, including the intentional use of Bible passages in which the students are actively engaged in reading and studying.
