The answer lies in a scripture we don’t often hear much about in regard to raising children. Galatians 3:13-14 has a special bearing on how we are to raise our children: “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.”

You may have heard a lot of teaching from this passage. You’ve heard we have been redeemed from everything under the curse of the law. You’ve heard we don’t have to put up with the curse. You’ve heard we’ve been redeemed from sin, sickness disease and poverty. What you probably have not heard is much teaching about the part of the curse that has to do with our children.

Yet reference to the curse of the law in Deuteronomy 28 mentions children in two verses: Verse 32 says, “You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.” Verse 41 says, “You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity.”

Don’t let this discourage you. This is the testimony of many parents today. They watch helplessly as their children are taken captive by the world—drugs, alcohol, perversion and so forth. But it doesn’t have to be that way or remain that way.

As believers, we can use our God-given authority and stand against these forces. According to Galatians 3:13, Jesus has broken the power of the curse. So we have the right to order Satan out of our children’s lives.

As soon as you recognize problems of rebellion in your children, address them quickly before they develop into more serious situations. Don’t be guilty of ignoring symptoms of rebellion when your children are small. Don’t simply excuse their acts of rebellion as a stage they are going through, assuming they will grow out of it. If you ignore it when they are small, it will be much more difficult to handle when they get older and the rebellion has had time to develop into a strong force.

Here’s what you do when you see these signs of rebellion occurring: Go immediately to the Word, seeking scriptures you can use to combat it. Then speak these scriptures aloud before God. Take authority in the spirit world and refuse to give Satan any room to operate. This is your responsibility as a Christian parent. A child does not understand the spiritual forces coming against him, so it is up to the parents to fight the spiritual battles and keep Satan out of the child’s life.

And don’t stop there. Take every opportunity to minister love to your children. Whenever they come around you, express your love in some way. It won’t take long for them to begin responding to that love. Don’t hesitate to show love to your children. They will respond to it!