The Fighting Side of Faithfulness
Once again, I find myself writing in an unexpected direction, believing this is from the Holy Spirit for you.
Sometimes, or maybe many times, "keeping the faith" requires a fight. In Ephesians 6:10-18 we read the very familiar passage of Scripture that describes the "armor of God" that we are to put on for the very real battle that each of us will fight. As followers of Christ the Bible says that we will battle rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark word, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (v 12) We fight an enemy who tosses flaming arrows at us, and Scripture tells us to use, among other weapons, our shield of faith.
I Timothy 6:12 says "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..."
Notice the active, even forceful words used by Paul here as he describes our Christian life: fight, take hold. Many people believe that living the Christian life, being faithful, is PASSIVE, that we sit around, "hanging in there," waiting for God to come through. I propose to you what may be a foreign thought: to live for Jesus we have to have an ACTIVE faith. We have to train, work hard, sacrifice and do what we know is right. We have to FIGHT.
Philippians 3:12 - 14 says "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Did you notice the active, "fighting words" this time? Press on, take hold, straining, press on toward the goal, win the prize. I definitely don't see a passive, waiting around for Jesus attitude in those verses! As we look at the 7th of the 9 fruits of the spirit, I can't help but take a non-traditional look at the "fighting side" of faithfulness. In order to do that, let's go to an Old Testament passage of Scripture.
I Chronicles 12:1-2 & 8
"These were the men who came to David....they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed..." v 8 "Some (warriors) defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles in the mountains."
A warrior is defined as one who knows how to make war and possesses the power to destroy his foes. A warrior uses weapons, both offensive and defensive, BUT THAT IS NOT ALL! In the above Scripture, we find David, hiding from Saul in the city of Ziklag. David has pledged loyalty to Achish, the ruler of the area, who was happy to have a famous Israelite warrior in his land. David's location was not a big secret, so many followers and fighting men joined him there. David surrounded himself with great warriors, the best of the Israelite army. But I have to wonder, what made them worthy to be David's warriors and servants? I think we can see it in the verses above:
1. David's warriors practiced long and hard to perfect their skills (The Bible describes their prowess with bows, arrows, slings and spears).
2. David's warriors were mentally tough and determined (Scripture says they had the faces of lions)
3. David's warriors were physically in shape (The Bible describes them as "swift as gazelles").
4. David's warriors were dedicated to serving both God and David, their leader. I Chronicles 12:18 describes the reaction of one of David's chief warriors as David was rallying his fighting men. "Then the Spirit came on Amasai ...and he said 'we are yours, O David! We are with you...! Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you!' "
Let's put it all together now. Faithfulness, is an active word, and requires us to wield a shield of faith. We are, whether we like it or not, in a fight (Ephesians 6:10). We are expected to fight (I Tim 6:12) and we are encouraged with forceful words like fight, press on, take hold, strain, win the prize! And based on what we see in David's warriors, there are attributes that I believe should be active in our lives.
First, on the fighting side of faithfulness, we need to perfect our skills. For David's warriors, this meant endless hours of practice with bows and arrows and spears and slings. But for us, it means that we need to get skilled with our weapons of prayer, understanding of God's Word and believing Him. Notice I said believing Him, not just believing IN Him. We need to be actively growing as Christians, and putting in the time and effort to be skilled in what we believe and how we act on it.
If that is not hard enough for many of us, we also need to train ourselves to be mentally tough and determined. I think we could elaborate quite a bit on this, but for the sake of simplicity, we need to determine before we even enter a battle at any point that WE WILL NOT QUIT! That doesn't mean we won't be wounded, or tired, or FEEL like quitting, but quitting just can't be an option. When you make that mental shift, it changes how you look at things, and it affects how you FIGHT!
I suppose most of us are already groaning at the first two, but let me push you (or coach you!) one step further! David's fighting men were described as "swift as gazelles," which meant they were in physical shape. I have known people to be incredibly strong in their relationship with God, but their physical life was a wreck, and ultimately, the area they were weak in, infiltrated the area they were strong in. I really believe that mine and your spiritual health, mental health, emotional health and physical health are all tied together. You may not be able to run like a gazelle, but I hope you make the time to exercise your body in some way. Can I be so bold as to say that if you ignore your physical health, it will ultimately deteriorate your spiritual health. Every one of us can do something to train ourselves physically.
Lastly, we need to be dedicated to serving both God, and the spiritual leaders He has put in our lives. We pledge ourselves, our lives our marriages, our families our dreams and our careers to God. We are His. He GETS to guide and direct us, and we GET to obey. That is us practicing active faithfulness. But we don't stop there. We also actively serve in our "home" church. We place ourselves in a position to be LED and we choose to be faithful to our leaders and to our church. We are faithful in our speech, our actions and with our time; and we honor God because of it. Those who hop from church to church, or who don't plant themselves in a church, never grown as a "warrior" because they really aren't on anyone's team. Faithfulness requires us standing our ground and fighting together, on the same team. We struggle together, encourage one another and fight together. And we display the fruit of faithfulness as a result.
I think now is a GREAT time to evaluate where you are at. Where do you thrive? Where do you struggle? Do you struggle with perfecting your skills? Do you have to force yourself to be mentally tough and determined? Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of being in shape physically? Does loyalty to God and the leaders He puts in your life terrify you?
Your assignment
Post to the group the area you are succeeding the most in, and any tips you have to share with others on how you got there.
Post to the group the area you are struggling the most with.
Remember, you don't have to agree with everything that is written, but let yourself be challenged!
Di
Sometimes, or maybe many times, "keeping the faith" requires a fight. In Ephesians 6:10-18 we read the very familiar passage of Scripture that describes the "armor of God" that we are to put on for the very real battle that each of us will fight. As followers of Christ the Bible says that we will battle rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark word, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (v 12) We fight an enemy who tosses flaming arrows at us, and Scripture tells us to use, among other weapons, our shield of faith.
I Timothy 6:12 says "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called..."
Notice the active, even forceful words used by Paul here as he describes our Christian life: fight, take hold. Many people believe that living the Christian life, being faithful, is PASSIVE, that we sit around, "hanging in there," waiting for God to come through. I propose to you what may be a foreign thought: to live for Jesus we have to have an ACTIVE faith. We have to train, work hard, sacrifice and do what we know is right. We have to FIGHT.
Philippians 3:12 - 14 says "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Did you notice the active, "fighting words" this time? Press on, take hold, straining, press on toward the goal, win the prize. I definitely don't see a passive, waiting around for Jesus attitude in those verses! As we look at the 7th of the 9 fruits of the spirit, I can't help but take a non-traditional look at the "fighting side" of faithfulness. In order to do that, let's go to an Old Testament passage of Scripture.
I Chronicles 12:1-2 & 8
"These were the men who came to David....they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed..." v 8 "Some (warriors) defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles in the mountains."
A warrior is defined as one who knows how to make war and possesses the power to destroy his foes. A warrior uses weapons, both offensive and defensive, BUT THAT IS NOT ALL! In the above Scripture, we find David, hiding from Saul in the city of Ziklag. David has pledged loyalty to Achish, the ruler of the area, who was happy to have a famous Israelite warrior in his land. David's location was not a big secret, so many followers and fighting men joined him there. David surrounded himself with great warriors, the best of the Israelite army. But I have to wonder, what made them worthy to be David's warriors and servants? I think we can see it in the verses above:
1. David's warriors practiced long and hard to perfect their skills (The Bible describes their prowess with bows, arrows, slings and spears).
2. David's warriors were mentally tough and determined (Scripture says they had the faces of lions)
3. David's warriors were physically in shape (The Bible describes them as "swift as gazelles").
4. David's warriors were dedicated to serving both God and David, their leader. I Chronicles 12:18 describes the reaction of one of David's chief warriors as David was rallying his fighting men. "Then the Spirit came on Amasai ...and he said 'we are yours, O David! We are with you...! Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you!' "
Let's put it all together now. Faithfulness, is an active word, and requires us to wield a shield of faith. We are, whether we like it or not, in a fight (Ephesians 6:10). We are expected to fight (I Tim 6:12) and we are encouraged with forceful words like fight, press on, take hold, strain, win the prize! And based on what we see in David's warriors, there are attributes that I believe should be active in our lives.
First, on the fighting side of faithfulness, we need to perfect our skills. For David's warriors, this meant endless hours of practice with bows and arrows and spears and slings. But for us, it means that we need to get skilled with our weapons of prayer, understanding of God's Word and believing Him. Notice I said believing Him, not just believing IN Him. We need to be actively growing as Christians, and putting in the time and effort to be skilled in what we believe and how we act on it.
If that is not hard enough for many of us, we also need to train ourselves to be mentally tough and determined. I think we could elaborate quite a bit on this, but for the sake of simplicity, we need to determine before we even enter a battle at any point that WE WILL NOT QUIT! That doesn't mean we won't be wounded, or tired, or FEEL like quitting, but quitting just can't be an option. When you make that mental shift, it changes how you look at things, and it affects how you FIGHT!
I suppose most of us are already groaning at the first two, but let me push you (or coach you!) one step further! David's fighting men were described as "swift as gazelles," which meant they were in physical shape. I have known people to be incredibly strong in their relationship with God, but their physical life was a wreck, and ultimately, the area they were weak in, infiltrated the area they were strong in. I really believe that mine and your spiritual health, mental health, emotional health and physical health are all tied together. You may not be able to run like a gazelle, but I hope you make the time to exercise your body in some way. Can I be so bold as to say that if you ignore your physical health, it will ultimately deteriorate your spiritual health. Every one of us can do something to train ourselves physically.
Lastly, we need to be dedicated to serving both God, and the spiritual leaders He has put in our lives. We pledge ourselves, our lives our marriages, our families our dreams and our careers to God. We are His. He GETS to guide and direct us, and we GET to obey. That is us practicing active faithfulness. But we don't stop there. We also actively serve in our "home" church. We place ourselves in a position to be LED and we choose to be faithful to our leaders and to our church. We are faithful in our speech, our actions and with our time; and we honor God because of it. Those who hop from church to church, or who don't plant themselves in a church, never grown as a "warrior" because they really aren't on anyone's team. Faithfulness requires us standing our ground and fighting together, on the same team. We struggle together, encourage one another and fight together. And we display the fruit of faithfulness as a result.
I think now is a GREAT time to evaluate where you are at. Where do you thrive? Where do you struggle? Do you struggle with perfecting your skills? Do you have to force yourself to be mentally tough and determined? Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of being in shape physically? Does loyalty to God and the leaders He puts in your life terrify you?
Your assignment
Post to the group the area you are succeeding the most in, and any tips you have to share with others on how you got there.
Post to the group the area you are struggling the most with.
Remember, you don't have to agree with everything that is written, but let yourself be challenged!
Di
posted by Di Beals | 9:28 PM
1 Comments:
That was awesome! I feel challenged, charged and ready for a fight. (Particularly with myself) Thanks Di. I really appreciate the work you put into that.
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