Pick A Fight

“Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” –  1 Timothy 6:12.

When we hear the word “fight” or reflect on past fights or dwell on current fights, it tends to conjure up thoughts of hardship, contention and even pain. We’ve all been through a few fights in our lives and because of those life experiences, we’ve associated mostly negative attributes to the meaning and understanding of the word “fight.” It is a situation we don’t really want to be involved in, and we will most likely avoid if we can. 

But the New Testament suggests over and over again that fighting is a part of the Christian life. Of course, there’s a deeper spiritual dimension to this word. 1 Timothy 6:12 says, “Fight the good fight for the true faith.” For some reason, many Christians believe that the walk of faith is supposed to be just an easy, breezy walk in the park. Everything is supposed to fit together and flow just right. Satan, however, has a different idea. He fights to win. His strategy and his punches are calculated. Like a boxer spends months learning every move of his opponent; watching every fight over and over to learn his style, the devil knows every rock-bottom moment, every insecurity, every hole we’ve dug ourself into and every regret we have ever had. So sometimes, we need to fight, sometimes we need to be a warrior. But, we need to fight at the right time and in the right way.

That does not mean we engage in fisticuffs at the slightest provocation. Rather I am saying that there are times when you must fight a spiritual battle. We have a spiritual enemy who hates us and who’s coming after us and everyone we love. Sometimes, we may need to stand up and fight to step to protect our children from the wrong crowd. Or to fight to maintain your integrity in business. Throwing a punch is to be on the offensive. So look around today. What are some ways you can rush into battle and meet the enemy head on?

Prayer is an effective weapon in any fight. Our prayer time is our personal time with God. This is the time when we block out the distractions of the world, and concentrate our attention strictly on our Savior. By connecting with God in this way, every day, we put ourselves in a better frame of mind to deal with everything we will face in our day-to-day lives. This is something we should look forward to as well. After all, it is the Holy Spirit who equips us and protects us to go out to the world and fight the good fight. It can help us know when to fight and when to walk away. 

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you consider the Lord is a warrior? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think God created us with a Warrior’s heart? In what ways do you see this in others? In yourself?
3. How do we know when to fight and when not to?
4. What can we do this week to make prayer part of our fight preparation?