Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

 • Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama

It is very important for us to associate with others who are walking in the right way – not only those who are where we are in the journey, but also those who have gone farther. Those who have drawn close to God have the ability to bring us closer to him, for in a sense they take us with them. ~ Teresa of Avila. Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith, Eds. Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups . Renovare, Inc. (HarperCollins Publishers), New York. 1993, p. 165. God wants every believer in Christ to be built up (edified), to grow to maturity in Christ, and to learn what it means to build up others. Jesus desires for us to grow up in our faith through our participation in the local church, an assembly of believers. We are commanded to learn under the example and teaching of godly pastors, and to live together with other Christians in loving submission to one another so we can fight the good fight of faith. God’s only method for this way of growth is his loving, Christian community – a local church. We now play our part in the Story of God! We are each provided spiritual gifts that we are to cultivate in service to the Body, building up one another as we gather each week as Christ’s worshiping community, and as we meet together in Bible studies or small groups. God intends for us to love one another as Christ has loved us. This is something we learn to do together, as we are led by the Holy Spirit and the shepherds (pastors) God gives to lead and feed us. We must strive to be friends with other believers, welcome them into our lives and our homes, and spend time relaxing and playing together. We are family, and must learn to relate as members together. Furthermore, we are also called to challenge one another to love and to practice good deeds, and to reject those evil things that we were formerly associated with before we became one of God’s people by faith in Christ. We only fight the good fight when we fight it with other Christian soldiers, in healthy Christian community, under the direction of godly leaders who admonish and encourage us through their example and the Word of God.

Summary