FIGHTING A GOOD FIGHT
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” II Timothy 4:7
The language Paul used here describes a struggle, a contest, or contending with an adversary. The Christian life for the great apostle was a constant challenge that required great effort. He was near the end of his life and anticipated his soon departure for Heaven. As a statement of fact and appreciation of God’s sufficient grace, he testified that “I have fought a good fight.” It would be wise for us to consider this matter for our own lives. Are we FIGHTING A GOOD FIGHT? Are we engaged in the same type of contest or struggle that Paul was familiar with? What kind of fight are we fighting?
If you ever hear someone speaking of Christians fighting, it is usually not the same kind of conflict of which Paul was speaking. Too often God’s people are fighting with each other. Things like pride, selfishness, jealousy, and rebellion cause strife in personal relationships and churches. To be quite frank, it could be accurately stated that most of the contending done by many Christians is toward one another. This is exactly opposite of what the Bible says we should be doing. Our attitude toward each other should be loving, protecting, forgiving, and encouraging. We should not be our own enemy. Churches will never have revival until they are willing to stop fussing with each other and love one another as they should. This is obviously a grief to the Holy Spirit and a blemish to the world that is watching. It may be fighting, but it is not FIGHTING A GOOD FIGHT.
Because so much attention is often directed to inner strife and bickering, the real battles that should be getting our energy are ignored. We should be fighting those things that hinder the work of God. For instance, we should fight against error and fight for the truth. A battle is raging in our day over the subject of truth. We are to earnestly contend for the faith. Part of this battle is over the source of truth and the integrity of the Word of God. We must also fight against the carnal tendencies of our own nature. We must resist the devil and refuse temptations.
As apostasy increases, we fight against compromise and worldliness. There is a good fight to be fought. When our lives come to an end, we want to be able to say that we, too, “fought a good fight.”