The Fight: Claiming God’s Victory in LifeSýnishorn

he Fight for Freedom

George Foreman, a dominant force in boxing for a number of years once said, “I cannot remember a time when I was not getting into a fight.” Life can feel that way sometimes – it may not be the physical fights of Foreman’s past, but it’s a grind nonetheless. Life is a struggle that’s constantly chipping away at you; you’re in a battle and you can feel it, you feel the enemy surrounding you.

Part of it is because we live in a sin-cursed world, and part of it is because there’s a spiritual attack that is constantly coming against us. If you fight that battle like a “normal” fight – you try hard, push past it in your own power – you’re going to be overwhelmed, it’s going to knock you out. You need to fight a spiritual fight spiritually,

How? Ephesians 1 says that when you put your faith in God you have access to the incomparable power of God and you can live differently – it’s as simple as faith. You can fight like a champion and have victory because the battle’s already been won. You don’t have to be bound by the sin of this world.

There’s a certain way you can fight like a Christian that leads to victory, and there’s a certain way you can fight as a Christian that leads to defeat – nobody wants to be defeated. There are three tenants to fighting like a champion:

1. Don’t fight in the dark
2. Always fight in the light
3. Remember your “WHY”

Don’t Fight in the Dark simply means keep yourself pure and don’t be greedy. After you come to faith in Christ, there will likely be pulls on your heart to bring you back to where you were. Watch out for little compromises that bring you back into the darkness – don’t go there. God’s got so much more for you – don’t settle for less than His best!

Fight in the Light means bringing the light of God’s truth to every area of your life – be honest with yourself and others, get hungry for God’s word and fill yourself with his truth. Be thankful because gratitude does wonders to change the perspective of our hearts.

Finally, Remember your “Why” – the reason you do what you do – because that will motivate and sustain you in difficult times. When asked why he was able to defeat Mike Tyson, Buster Douglas said it was because of his Mom – she told everyone she knew that her son was going to beat Tyson, and when she died two days before the fight, Douglas had a stronger "Why" that carried him through.

As Christians, we have the best “why” – God loves you, he chose you. You don’t deserve it, but God picked you for his team anyway. He lived and died for you, sacrificed himself so you could come to him. And he’s still fighting for us today. He already brought us victory, we’re living in it.

When temptation hits we can boldly say, No thanks – my God has chosen me, he’s fighting for me so I’m going to fight for him

As we battle life’s challenges, we can walk in victory, able to endure whatever life throws our way. The first thing to ensure victory is to understand is that the battle is spiritual, the second is to fight like a champion because you walk in victory.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for sending Jesus so I can be with you. Thank you for choosing me and continuing to fight for me today. I choose you. You’re fighting for me so I’m going to fight for you, and I know I can do that through Jesus because I can do all things through Him. In His name, I pray.