Friday, October 15, 2010

Is it really necessary?

Channing Tatum in the movie "Fighting"
I hated fighting. For some reason though, growing up in a fairly large neighborhood and being the oldest in a family of five (four boys) put me in the precarious position of having to fight the neighbor boys from time to time. I don't know if it was a guy thing, a supremacy thing (though we didn't have gangs back then), or if we just felt this was the best way to resolve differences, fighting just seemed a necessary part of growing up. Funny thing, it was always fear more than aggression that kept me in any fight. Every single time I'd find myself staring down a fight, I'd think to myself, "I hate going through this".

I recall during a particular gym class session in 7th grade, the teachers- we had two- had announced a wrestling series we were going to start. In my mind, wrestling was just like fighting and I hated fighting. There was no way I wanted to go through this series. I went home and told my mother how I hated anything to do with fighting and didn't want to participate. When I reluctantly presented her note to the teacher to excuse me from class, I was told that not wanting to participate wasn't reason enough to be excused. So, once again I found myself faced with "fighting" with the rest of the guys in class.

The one match I do remember, I gave my opponent a little tussle just to seem authentic. But, I knew the quickest way to end the fight was to give up and end up on my back. So I did. I hated fighting.

Through those experiences however, and many others, I've learned that life is full of fights. In fact, quite often we find those things worth having require a fight. It probably won't be with fists or on a mat, but in our minds and hearts. We have a spiritual opponent, the devil, who's only goal is to steal, kill and destroy anything and everything that humanity will give up. We mustn't give up! We have to fight; and we don't just fight for the sake of fighting, we fight because what's right and good is worth contending for.

Muhammad Ali was once quoted as saying, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights”. There are fights most of us go through that no one will ever know about, but they are still fights. The outcome of which will be determined by the value we put on winning. Is it worth the fight?

Over and over we can read in God's Word of adversity, warring, an enemy and fighting. In 1 Timothy 6:12 the Apostle writes to his young protege telling him, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life..." And again in Jude we read, "...contend earnestly for the faith..." (Jude 3).

Fighting may not be a part of our lives we relish, but it's nevertheless a real part of everyday life. The quickest way to end a fight is give up, but God's Word encourages us to fight, saying "...in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37). Have you determined what you want the outcome to be? Are you willing to fight for it?