One of the choice weapons of the enemy is discouragement. If Satan causes defeat in any area of our lives, it is usually tied to some type of discouragement. Perhaps you are well acquainted with this struggle. In all of the years reading Paul’s farewell address to Timothy, there is a small word tucked into verse 7 that I had never given much thought to until recently.
When describing his life’s journey of following Christ to Timothy he says, “I have fought the good fight.” It is fascinating to me that in all of Paul’s sufferings and persecutions, he links the word good with the word fight. Paul is saying, in the midst of life’s disappointments and hardships, the Christian walk is still a good walk. The Greek word agonizomai, translated “fought,” means literally “to engage in conflict.” The word was used in the context of competing in athletic games or engaging in military conflict. Considering that Paul was chained to a Roman soldier when he wrote this epistle, it would have been easy for him to make such an analogy.
Paul suffered many conflicts and he lists them in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28. “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,[b] in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Yet, in all of these struggles Paul calls his fight of faith a good fight.
The word good in 2 Timothy 4:7 is kalos in the Greek, and it means noble, praiseworthy. This is how he saw his struggles. Like the great apostle, can you view the spiritual warfare you’re presently fighting as something that is good? Paul was able to call the fight of faith a good fight because he was able to look beyond present circumstances in view of eternity. He reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Sign Up For Pastor Chad’s Weekly Newsletter by clicking here!
You must be logged in to post a comment.