The Good Fight

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   When I was a kid, probably 5^th or 6^th grade, I got in the only fight I was ever involved in. I don't remember the name of the other kid or even the reason for the fight. I do recall that the fight was in part egged on by some of the neighbors, including one of my cousins. One punch was thrown, and not by me. It was not what I would call a "good fight."

   In 1 Timothy 6:12, the Apostle Paul writes, "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses." The term Paul uses here can also refer to the idea of a struggle and is used to describe contests, debates, or even law suits. Perhaps the idea of an endurance race would resonate better with some. The term implies the idea of opposition or hardship, and it gives us our words "agony" and "agonize".

   As Christians, we are called to struggle or to fight for something that is good, not for something that is selfish, like I did as a kid. This fight is for the truth of the gospel, for "the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 3)." This faith seizes on the eternal life, knowing God the Father through His Son Jesus (John 17:3), and making a public confession of that faith in the presence of all who need to hear it. Make no mistake about it, the world will oppose us. Contending for the gospel will result in agony, hardship, and even suffering. Yet we are not in this on our own. we fight this good fight knowing that we represent Christ "who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)."

   So fight the good fight, and do so with confidence and compassion.