Fight the good fight.

Awhile back our church taught through Paul's Epistles. I wrote this devotion using the text from 1 Timothy 1:17-19

I hope you enjoy this devotional and please let me know your thoughts on the text.











Paul instructs young Timmy to fight the good fight
with two things: faith and a good conscience. Why? We can use these attributes as a defense while in Spiritual warfare. But wait a minute! Back in Ephesians,
doesn’t Paul give us a specific list of defenses for warfare – the Armor of God? Why would Paul boil them down to only two? I believe it follows the pattern of
Christ. Christ took the Ten Commandments and boiled them down to only two. Once we understand that God has our back as we walk in His righteousness, it’s no longer us doing the work, but Christ in us.

Real faith produces agood conscience, and a good conscience strengthens faith. Let us also recognize that faith is used not only as a weapon of defense. Faith is an indispensable element in our relationship to God (Hebrews 11:6); it’s a fundamental duty of every believer (John 6:28); and faith needs to be vital in our prayer life(James 1:6). Couple all of that back to Christ’s two commandments, see that faith should also be united in love (1 John 3:23).

This week, let’s examine our lives to see if we have the faith that is essential to us in our Christian walk. What does it mean in Hebrews 11 as it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” It assumes the existence of God and that God has spoken to man. Is God speaking to you? If not, go back to Ephesians and see what attributes are a little weak in your life. Are you girding your waist with truth? Do you have the breastplate of righteousness? Do you have peace? Above all, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and are you in the Word which the bible calls the sword of the Spirit? I challenge everyone to go forward in your Christian walk, loving one another as Christ has loved you, and to fight the good fight with faith and a good conscience