Many people go through life oblivious to the various attacks against them. We struggle against the world, the devil, and our own fleshly desires. As the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, he warned him against a common struggle that many of us face:

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

The world, our fleshly desires, and the devil conspire together to move our focus from God and onto the temptation to get rich. Have you felt that temptation in your life? Money is not evil, but the love of money can lead to destruction and many griefs. Paul gives us a way to overcome our fleshly desires, but it takes effort on our part. God’s grace is not earned, but it’s not opposed to effort. Paul gives two present tense commands indicating that we are to continue flee from the worldly desires and we are to continually pursue the character qualities of a man of God:

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)

We must flee from the downward pull of the way of the world and pursue the attitudes and behaviors of a man of God. We must realize that we are engaged in a battle:

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)

The word fight is also in the present tense and it denotes an ongoing struggle or conflict. Our enemy, the devil, will launch his fiery darts against us. His attacks will include doubt, despair, discouragement, and defeat. We must not be passive, we must be engaged in the battle. Paul’s second letter to Timothy indicates that our struggle will involve hardship:

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:3)

Paul described this battle as a good fight, we usually don’t think of a fight as being good. This is a good fight because it enables us to overcome the world, our flesh, and the devil.

Paul then challenges us to take hold of eternal life. This is metaphorical picture of the victorious soldier receiving a medal after winning the battle. C.T. Studd boldly declared, “I pray that when I die, all of hell will throw a party in celebration that I am no longer in the fight.” The battle is real and the struggle is hard, but we can have confidence knowing that God can give us the victory as we fight the good fight of faith.

Rick Higgins

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark