Training The Young Warrior

Before I wrote the book The Warrior Way, I use to tell the children in my Sunday school class about the way of the Samurai Warrior. I told them that the children were very young when they were taken away for their training: as young as 4 years of age. I told them that one of the first things these young warriors learned how to do is to use the sword. The sword was a vitally important tool for these young soldiers, especially when it was time to go into the battle field. I would then finish saying that my 5th and 6th grade class were going to learn how to be warriors too and I was going to teach them how to use their sword in order to fight off their enemy, the devil. When I woke this morning I was thinking about Samurai warriors and their routine. I felt like I wanted more information, so I did some research. Here is what I found.~ “The rigorous training of a samurai warrior began in childhood. Samurai school was a unique combination of physical training, Chinese studies, poetry and spiritual discipline. The young warriors studied Kendo ("the Way of the Sword"), the moral code of the samurai, and Zen Buddhism. Samurai were expected to live according to Bushido ("The Way of the Warrior"), a strict ethical code influenced by Confucianism that stressed loyalty to one's master, respect for one's superior, ethical behavior in all aspects of life and complete self-discipline.” (PSB.org) I read this and thought to myself that this is a guide for Christians to develop for Warriors for Christ. Check it out. 1. The rigorous training starts at a young age. This tells me that we must start our children learning about the Power of Christ at a young age. The training is rigorous but not dreadful. That indicates that we should be teaching our children in a way that they never get the impression that the stories in the Bible are ONLY stories. We need to teach in such a way that the Bible becomes real. Sometimes that is through personal testimony or relating the Bible that they are learning about, to the world around them. 2. A child’s training is whole life learning. Bring God and His principals in to all areas of the child’s life: Physical, emotional, spiritual, social and educational. 3. Train your children in, “The Way of the Sword”: Get your children into the Word of God as young as possible. Make it so that it feels uncomfortable for them to ever enter into a church or a spiritual situation without their bibles. Put little Bibles in children’s hands the moment they can hold onto that Bible and then whenever possible, read from their Bible so they see the value of the book they hold in their hands. As they grow, teach them how to use their own Bible as a tool to fight off the enemy. Make them so comfortable with their Bible, that by the time they are a young teen they are able to fight the enemy off. Even if their trusted adult leaders are nowhere around. They are capable of standing on the Word of God all on their own. Won’t it be wonderful to see our young teens become mighty warriors instead of rebellious victims? We could not give our children a better gift. 4. Our children should be taught in the “Way of the Warrior”. As a Christian, our Warrior is Jesus Christ. To train our children in the way of Christ is to train them about the GRACE of God. For it is by grace that we have been saved. Grace empowers us to succeed. Grace gives us the wisdom to make the right decisions. Grace gives us the power to win because God has already won. Grace shows us how to allow the Fruits of God’s Spirit to flow through us. The children’s code of ethics become the Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 5. Lastly these young warriors will learn that God is their first leader. They submit to Him above all. Next, they will be taught to honor and respect their parent or guardians second only to God. Then they will learn to display that respect and care to the world around them. They will become Warriors for Christ and protectors of the less fortunate. Can you imagine? A teen with a selfless point of view, caring for and loving others? Now they will learn to develop this skill and enhance it as they become young adults and beyond. This is truly The Warrior Way