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Timothy was gifted with leadership strengths and he had a special calling from God to serve the Church in Ephesus. The Apostle Paul recognised this and being his mentor, wrote a very personal letter to encourage this young minister of the Gospel. Paul knew the challenges, pressures, conflicts and surrounding circumstances Timothy faced. Timothy, being timid by nature, may be discouraged and his faith could be severely tested and threatened. The fact that Paul’s advice was addressed to a strong and godly believer indicated how real the danger is of our faith being “shipwrecked” due to misguided Christian teachings today.
Paul wrote to instruct Timothy to “fight the good fight”. What exactly does it mean to “fight the good fight”? The conditions in the Church then are similar to the times we are now living in – where people are lovers of the world and ungodliness prevail (See 2 Tim 3:2-7). False teachers who preached a different gospel from Biblical truth are always around.
The main part of “the good fight” would involve our challenge to live the Christian faith. There are some sobering things we have to stand up for or to endure like personal hardship, social pressure or unjust persecution. Even mature Christians suffered “shipwreck” and had to be “handed over to satan”. We need help to find the strength to fight against such temptations. Paul’s advice to us is to: “fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience” (1 Tim. 1:18-19). One of the ways in which God speaks to us is through our conscience. Whenever we feel that something is not right, it is wise not to pursue it. A good wise saying is: “when in doubt – reject”. In this way and keeping the righteousness of Jesus in mind, we are less likely to sin and over time we will become more capable to distinguish right from wrong.
Our ability to battle the evils of this world, our own flesh and satan comes not of ourselves, but through keeping our Christian faith. In this battle, God has not forgotten us and He has provided us with a unique set of protection and weapons – “the full armour of God” (Eph. 6:10-17). At the end of the day, we can boldly say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7).
