1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
The Christian life is a battle. From the day you got saved, you entered a war that you must fight daily if you are going to live a successful Christian life. Not to think that you are in a battle means that you have already lost the battle. You cannot serve God and do right without battling the flesh, sin, and the world.
Paul told Timothy to Fight the good fight of faith. To live a life of faith is going to be a fight. Now, there are many battles you can involve yourself in, but the only worthy battle of fighting is the good fight of faith. Many have gotten involved in political battles only to discover those battles never made a difference in this world. Many have gotten involved in making money thinking that money will make a difference, but they found out that money is only a tool to be used for the good fight of faith. Anything you involve yourself in other than the good fight of faith always leaves you realizing that you wasted your time in a worthless battle. When you are in the good fight of faith, you will find three battles that you will constantly fight.
The first battle you will fight is the battle from below. In other words, Satan will not sit idly by and let you serve God. When you start doing something for God, you will find that Satan will put a target on your back. A Christian doing nothing for God has never had to worry about Satan’s attacks because they are already doing what he wants them to do, which is nothing. The attacks of Satan are always waged on those who are doing something for God. You must always be aware of his attack that tries to tempt you to do anything but serve God.
The second battle you will fight is the battle from without. When you start serving God, you will find that many will not be happy with you. Surprisingly, many battles from without will not be from the world, but from worldly Christians who are upset that your life is exposing their worldliness. People will attack you if you are serving God. You will fight battles from the world and worldly Christians if you do anything for God.
The third battle you will fight will be the battle from within. This may be the greatest battle that you will fight. Each battle is a worthy battle that will grab your attention, but the battle from within is often the greatest battle that any believer will fight. It is easy to get weary with the battles from below and from without, but you cannot let the weariness of the battle cause you to quit. Health issues will also fight against you, and the battle from within not to continue will be great, but you must not give in to the desire to quit.
Now, how do we win against the battles from below, without, and within? The only way to win this fight is to stay focused on your strength from above. If you stay focused on God and walk with Him in His Word and prayer, you will find the strength you need to win every battle that comes your way. As long as you stay focused above on Christ, you will find the strength to continue despite any battle waged against you. My friend, you have the strength from above that can help you win any battle you face, but you must be focused on God if the strength from above is to help you win the fight against the battles from below, without, and within.