“Fight The Good Fight”

Many forget the fact that being a Christian is a struggle, a real fight. Many “Christians” portray an attitude that since they have been faithful for a time, they will now rest on their laurels and wait for God to “take them home.” Sadly, such people are deceiving themselves. This will not happen. The apostle Paul told Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (I Tim. 6:12). While we want to enjoy times of peace and calm, let us not forget that the life of a Christian is one of fighting and turmoil against Satan (II Cor. 10:4-5). Since this is true, let us look to the Bible and find what will help us “fight the good fight of faith.”

There is no question that if we wish to please God we must be humble. Jesus taught that only by being as humble as a child can we hope for a home in Heaven (Matt. 18:3-4). How humble are we?

Prayer is desperately needed if we wish to fight the good fight of faith. Jesus taught men the importance of prayer in Luke 18:1-8. He taught that, “men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18:1). We must talk to God regularly if we hope to have the strength to fight against Satan.

If we are going to fight the good fight of faith, we need to be devoted to the cause of Christ! The word devotion means, “a strong attachment to apply time or oneself completely to some purpose or cause” (Webster’s). The apostle Paul stands out as a great example of devotion. Please read his words in II Corinthians 12:15. He wrote, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.” His devotion toward Christ and other Christians was amazing.

When we don’t read and study our Bible, we will fail in the fight of faith. Paul teaches, “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,” and “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (Eph. 3:4; II Tim. 2:15). Reading the Bible provides spiritual food for our soul. We can understand that if a soldier won’t eat, he will die. Likewise, when a soldier of the cross does not “eat” the spiritual bread and drink the water of life, he will die spiritually (Jn. 4:10; 6:35, 48). If we do not read and study God’s word daily, we have our priorities in the wrong place!

Wouldn’t it be great to know what defeats Satan? Wouldn’t it be great to know what we can do to keep Satan from running our lives? We can know, and in fact, it has been revealed what we can do. James says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (Jas. 4:7-8). Obeying these things is key to defeating Satan.

Let us not to give up in this fight. There are too many Soldiers of the Cross falling due to Satan’s “fiery darts” (Eph. 6:16). “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9). Let us never forget to “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (I Tim. 6:12).

Face of God

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

Psalm 46:10

Bill hates his job as grocery store check-out clerk. Not only is it a job he does not want, but you should see the people, he says. They are nasty! I hate this job! I just ring the groceries and bag them, don't even speak to the people unless they speak first!

Rebecca tries to tell Bill, a Christian, that each person going through the line is a child of God. They have their personal problems and pains to deal with, giving Bill an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God to them.

“Yes, they act goofy. They may even be rude,” Rebecca says. “But you are in a position to change their day, to make it better, to show God's love.”

Bill wants nothing to do with what Rebecca tells him, claiming she “doesn’t know what he has to put up with.”

Maybe not. But Rebecca knows that attitude affects how we work. Bill’s bitterness is ruining him as much as it is hurting his customers

Rebecca also knows we are responsible for how we behave, not for how others behave.

If Bill sees God's face in each of his customer’s faces, maybe he will see them as God's children, worthy of respect. And maybe then he can tolerate his job!

The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled

and the pride of men brought low;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

Isaiah 2:11

All too many of us are stuck in thankless jobs. Perhaps we need to hear Rebecca’s message, too.

PRAYER: Lord, help us to see beyond the everyday tasks and jobs to the people who work with us. We are all made in God’s image, and therefore must be treated with the respect of God. Help us see that THIS is our real job. Amen.