I spent this past weekend thinking about FIGHTING, a lot. No, not the kind of fighting that probably jumped into your mind. I’m referring to fighting the GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.
The back story here starts with how some verses in the Bible have special meaning in the life of a believer and how some have EXTRA SIGNIFICANCE. One such verse for me is Paul’s piercingly powerful statement in 2 Timothy:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
That verse prompts me to regularly challenge my faith by asking if I have a FIGHTING FAITH. And it’s why I spent this past weekend fixated on that fight in my life and this deeper probe: Am I WASTING any part of my faith by not maximizing a FIGHTING FAITH?
WASTE: To use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose.
Waste is a nasty word in almost all circumstances and settings. But when it’s used to describe our faith walk with Christ, it blows past nasty and becomes DEVASTATING.
I’ve learned from this ministry’s online tribe that many Christians around the world have a sense they are wasting their lives. It’s not always described with the word waste, but the stand-in terms make the point very clear. Usually it’s something like this:
I wish my life had more meaning…and more purpose…and more significance.
Lurking in the shuttered recesses of their mind is the haunting thought that they are wasting their life. That there should be “something more” to their walk with God on earth on the way to eternity in Heaven.
WHY?
Because we all want our life to count and, at the end, KNOW that we fought God’s good fight. To know—without those painful shadows of doubt—that our labor for the Lord was not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
We should want what Paul had at the end of his life—the blessing to look back without crippling regrets despite being an enemy of Christ earlier in his life. Paul KNEW that Jesus had saved him, cleansed him, and equipped him to serve God’s Kingdom. And Paul knew he had done just that.
But an ending like Paul’s is not automatic. It takes an intentional commitment by us to follow the infallible righteousness of Christ by connecting to him and his Word every day and following the example of Jesus to serve, rather than to be served (Matthew 20:28).
That’s why I ask God to give me the strength to fight the good fight by WORSHIPPING JESUS above anything and everything of the world. To help me fight the good fight of faith by abiding in his Word no matter how or what I feel.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you have a fighting faith? Is there any sign of waste in your faith walk?
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12
