When is a fight good?
Arguments, disagreements and doubt can at times be necessary for change. When we carry the desire to find the truth and to uphold it as what is good we will ultimately reach a better place.
The search for truth will always help us to endure.
Proverbs 3:21-22 (NIV)
My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.
A fight is good when we’re fighting to maintain integrity and well-being. When we’re fighting for hope and longevity. What lets us down, though we don’t always realise it at the time, is selfish ambition.
Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Part of what makes a fight good is standing up and taking a position on how we should live.
As a Christian, the Word of God is my compass. Maintaining true north means I ground myself in His truths, not my own, not the world’s, and not even the modern church’s appetite for doctrine that sounds good to the first-world privileged but can’t equally be borne out amongst the poor, the neglected, the abused, the hard-pressed or third world realities.
I ask myself, how do I consider what I fight for and from what position I'm fighting from?
2 Peter 2:2 (KJV)
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Fighting a good fight is fighting for what is worthy and honourable. This ensures nobody is sabotaged. Nobody is undermined. We need to be in touch with our conscience, as this is the first line of defence God has put in us to check ourselves. If we fight against our own conscience and ‘do what feels right’, over time our conscience will become dull, even useless, we could say.
Titus 1:15 (NIV)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
Being sure we are not working against the truth in ourselves is paramount. Maybe that means not going somewhere you know you shouldn’t, not participating in an activity, and choosing your friends wisely. Maybe that means choosing to attend church when it’s not comfortable. Sometimes the fight is within ourselves.
Living in a way that is right according to the bible takes diligence and persistence, which is a type of fight. We live alternatively to the cultural norm. When we follow that compass of true north that never changes we will never be shaken.
Romans 14:23 (ERV)
But anyone who eats something without being sure it is right is doing wrong. That is because they did not believe it was right. And if you do anything that you believe is not right, it is sin.
This isn't only about what we eat - but it may be about eating rubbish food or being a glutton. Or, it may be about spending money when you don’t have it, or criticizing someone instead of celebrating them. It may be giving way to a lazy lifestyle instead of living productively. Perhaps, it’s not speaking up at your child’s school when something is introduced that you believe is detrimental to children’s welfare. Perhaps it is taking a certain medication because you feel pressured to do so. Maybe it’s bending to what others say when that’s not what you believe is right.
The mismanagement of our conscience is a sin to God. The conscience is something God gave and God endorses. If we lose our conscience, we lose that part of our mind that is closely connected to the mind of Christ.
My son attends a public school and I find myself speaking with them from time to time about aspects of the curriculum because I’m concerned about what my son is being fed. If it directly opposes the word of God or wholesome education, I need to consider my role in managing that as effectively as I can.
When this was happening once, I said to a friend, “I don’t know if I want to say something about this. I don’t want to be ‘that mother’.” And she said, “Oh, Tracy-Ann, be that mother.”
That’s a good friend, right there. We don’t have to jump on everything. We do have to be wise with the battles we pick and the way we manage that but we also have to be diligent.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (AMP)
We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,
It may not always be possible to bring reform but we do what we can to bring change in a way that is peaceable. God wants to help make rough places smooth in our lives.
Romans 14:19 (NIV)
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
While we take a stand and fight for what is right, we do so in a manner that embraces the soul of a person, whether it be our own or someone else’s.
Think about what you live for because that is what you will end up fighting for. Does it align with the truth in God’s Word and God’s eternal plan? Is it something that should endure?
Proverbs 13:4 (NKJV)
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
We must first choose not to be complacent. Fighting is a matter of faith.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 (NIV)
…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.
To view a sweet little shorts video I made relating to this, click the link:
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