Daily Devotions for Daily Living Vol 2 Excerpt

The Good Fight

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of faith."

From a young age everyone teaches us that it’s not right to fight. Fighting is bad. We know that the outcome of fighting is never good. Someone gets hurt. Fighting destroys friendships. Nothing good can come from fighting.

Why then is Paul telling us to fight? Moreover, why is this fight of faith? Jesus already won the battle over the devil. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

“Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith… and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

When Jesus ascended into heaven, He sat down as everything He needed to do was finished. Even though the enemy is roaring around, and we live in an evil world, we stand in the finished work of Jesus. That is the rest of faith. Right believing overcomes the enemy. Our faith fights the fight from a position of grace.

We stand in that knowledge. We stand in the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. It’s by grace through faith. It’s standing in Christ.

A good fight is one in which you win. We’ve won in Christ. We know the outcome. The battle is the Lord’s (1 Samuel 17:47). We sit with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians. 2:6). Moreover, that’s far above all principalities and powers (Ephesians 1:21-23).

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11).

Faith is the channel to God’s grace. Let’s be like Paul who said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).