May 1, 2022 FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
1 Timothy 6:11-12 “But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you make the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Life for the believer is not sedentary; the one who knows God is called to action. There is a way that we wait on God, but while we are waiting on God to do a certain thing, we are to be about the things that He has clearly called us to be about. When Paul instructed Timothy to “flee these things”, he was referring to all things that were not in keeping with the ways of God; there are things that we must flee, and there are things we must pursue. We are to flee all things that are not pleasing to the Lord and that are not becoming of a follower of Jesus; such as being argumentative, dishonest, lying, unfaithful-and etc.; some things we are to flee are internal, such as wrong thoughts and attitudes, beliefs that are contrary to the truth of the scriptures, wrong motives and desires, etc. Paul addressed Timothy as ‘man of God’; we should see ourselves as men and women of God-that is our true identity. As people of God, we are to naturally pursue the things of God. We are righteous in Christ, but at the same time, we are to pursue righteousness; our life-the things we do-are to be expressions of the righteousness we have in Christ; we are righteous people of God-so we live righteously. To be godly, is to resemble God, to do the things that are in keeping with His nature. We are to exercise faith even in face of adversity; to believe the promises of God, and to continue trusting Him even though we may not understand how He is using our circumstances for good. To persevere means that we do not give up when the way is difficult; it means that we do not consider other options to what God has called us be or what He has called us to do. In our dealings with others, we are not to be harsh, not to insist on having things our way, but are to be gentle in spirit. We are all in some fight in life; let us make sure we are not wasting time and energy on fighting the wrong fight; let our fight be about having the courage and the wisdom to flee the things that are not pleasing to the Lord and to pursue those things that are pleasing to Him. God has given us His word, and in His word we get to know Him and to learn of Him, and to learn the things and the ways that are pleasing in His sight. Let us take hold of the things God has called us too.
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained it or have become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid of by Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
1 Timothy 6:11-12 “But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you make the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Life for the believer is not sedentary; the one who knows God is called to action. There is a way that we wait on God, but while we are waiting on God to do a certain thing, we are to be about the things that He has clearly called us to be about. When Paul instructed Timothy to “flee these things”, he was referring to all things that were not in keeping with the ways of God; there are things that we must flee, and there are things we must pursue. We are to flee all things that are not pleasing to the Lord and that are not becoming of a follower of Jesus; such as being argumentative, dishonest, lying, unfaithful-and etc.; some things we are to flee are internal, such as wrong thoughts and attitudes, beliefs that are contrary to the truth of the scriptures, wrong motives and desires, etc. Paul addressed Timothy as ‘man of God’; we should see ourselves as men and women of God-that is our true identity. As people of God, we are to naturally pursue the things of God. We are righteous in Christ, but at the same time, we are to pursue righteousness; our life-the things we do-are to be expressions of the righteousness we have in Christ; we are righteous people of God-so we live righteously. To be godly, is to resemble God, to do the things that are in keeping with His nature. We are to exercise faith even in face of adversity; to believe the promises of God, and to continue trusting Him even though we may not understand how He is using our circumstances for good. To persevere means that we do not give up when the way is difficult; it means that we do not consider other options to what God has called us be or what He has called us to do. In our dealings with others, we are not to be harsh, not to insist on having things our way, but are to be gentle in spirit. We are all in some fight in life; let us make sure we are not wasting time and energy on fighting the wrong fight; let our fight be about having the courage and the wisdom to flee the things that are not pleasing to the Lord and to pursue those things that are pleasing to Him. God has given us His word, and in His word we get to know Him and to learn of Him, and to learn the things and the ways that are pleasing in His sight. Let us take hold of the things God has called us too.
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained it or have become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid of by Christ Jesus.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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