Fighting the good fight

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful." What a wonderful and empowering passage from Christian Scripture! As I read those words from Timothy 4:7, recently. I felt a warm wave of wonder and awe. I also felt sadness, mixed with admiration. Recognizing that, I too, can work towards those important goals elevated all my actions to a higher level -- a higher place of purpose, pride and accomplishment. That is if my actions were performed for the right reasons. I immersed myself in my newfound knowledge that our life can be compared to a battle, a cherished dream or whatever description we choose to call it. If we continue to try, there's always a reward to be won or lost. If nothing can be visibly seen or recognized, we have the satisfaction of knowing we gave it our all.

Although Paul was talking about his fight against evil and for Jesus Christ, he was striving for the ultimate prize--a ticket into the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul's scenario can be applied to the things present in our life. He was noted for such things as his early persecution of Christians, preaching, his imprisonments and his Letters. What a turn-around! As he contemplated his probable upcoming death, he looked back on his life to see how he fared. I'm almost certain both his bad and his good deeds came to mind, but he believed he had fought hard. He had fought a good fight for Christ--one that involved excruciating punishment and suffering. He recognized he had kept the faith, and since this soul searching came near the time of his death, he figured it was almost over. Paul prepared to claim the prize waiting at the finish line saying, "I have finished the race." Paul used whatever tools God had given to him to promote the faith. He seemed pleased with his accomplishments, knowing he did his best.

As I read that passage, my spirits were lifted. I knew that I, had goals to reach, places to go, and people to help. What a thrill! Now, I needed to search within and see if I could figure out what my valuable traits, skills, and useful qualities were. I'm sure that God knows, but often it is difficult for us to know in which direction we should go.

What matters most is that we love God, do our best in whatever we attempt to do, and we, indeed, treat others as we wish to be treated.

I probed into my psyche to try and find out what my contributions to the human community and God were, or could be. Did I need to be famous, an excellent seamstress, a well-known singer, a CEO of a large corporation, a teacher of the year, or the best of carpenters? In error, during my search I looked at the skills for which I received the most attention, the outward evidence of love from other people and the knowledge of some of the actions that I knew were valuable to others. However, oftentimes, our biggest contributions go unnoticed by the world.

As I tried to discover what would lead me to the finish line, I wondered which road I should take to accomplish the goal of staying true to what I knew was right. Was I fighting the good fight, and the kind of fight that leads to love and genuine caring for others? I found, during my contemplation on the race, that those who had made the biggest difference in my life were not, usually the excellent, well-known, the heads of large corporations or the best in their trades. Although, those fitting the molds I've mentioned, have contributed largely to the joy and growth in my life, ordinary people possessing ordinary gifts and talents are at the top of my list. Many have brought joy and love to my existence.

God never plays favorites. We are all his cherished people if we keep the faith and keep on fighting, never giving up. It's easy to backslide in what we do--becoming tired or bored of fighting the good fight, yet, we must keep going so then, we too with Paul can say, "I've fought the good fight, finished the race and remained faithful."