The Bible tells us to “fight the good fight of faith.” What does that mean? The enemy of your soul wants nothing more than to defeat you any way he can. He will use suggestions, ideas, pressures and negative circumstances to get you to believe his lies. If Satan can get you to change your confession of faith to a confession of doubt, he‘s got you and that is why you must hold onto your confession of faith and that is why you must resist the devil so that he will flee from you. If you are a child of God, Satan can’t get your soul, it belongs to God. Satan will do whatever he can to get you to lose your faith and give up, but if you fight the good fight of faith when times are difficult, you will come out on the other side more than a conqueror.
I’m sure you have heard of the military term AWOL – Away Without Official Leave. A good soldier holds onto faith, while an AWOL soldier lets go of faith. What’s the difference between an AWOL soldier and a good soldier? An AWOL soldier, after becoming engaged in the fight, changes his/her mind and decides to run away from their duties/ responsibilities without authorization thus leaving his post unmanned causing a breach in security. A good soldier accepts his responsibilities, follows the orders of the commander in charge without question, and will do whatever necessary to protect his fellow soldiers and their mission even if it costs him his life. God is our heavenly Father and His commands are all written down in His Book, the Word of God and a good soldier obeys his commander without question.
To fight the good fight of faith you must do the following:
- Put on your armor
- Fight
- Watch
- Be courageous
- Resist the devil
- Stand
- Stick it out – do not go AWOL
God has given us armor and we must put it on every day. Our armor is described in Ephesians 4: 14-18.
- Belt of truth
- Breastplate of righteousness
- Gospel of peace for your shoes
- Shield of faith (to extinguish fiery darts of the enemy)
- Helmet of Salvation
- The sword of the spirit (the word of God)
- Prayer & supplication
- Perserverance
Believing in God is a personal act. You must hold onto your faith – no one can do that for you. You must keep believing. You must guard your heart and always be aware of anything or anyone that will try to pull you away from the Lord and what He has called you to do. Get rid of all distractions. Stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish. Your faith should not depend on any person or any ministry or any church membership. You are not going to win in life’s fights just because you are a church member and you attend church. You will fight the ‘good fight of faith’ when you apply yourself to spiritual truths found in the Word of God.
Question: Are you a good soldier or have you gone AWOL?