Fighting the Good Fight

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8

What does it mean that he's fought the good fight? Paul says here that he has kept the faith, and finished the race. I wonder, what is a good fight? So often we think of Christ as the Prince of Peace, who told us, "Blessed are the peacemakers." So what is a good fight? What does it mean to fight a good fight?

I think here it's important to step back and consider what struggle is, and what it is for. Struggle is the opposite of an easy life, something given without having to fight for it in some way, to stand up for it. I think this is a part of fighting the good fight - that there are just some things you have to stand up for. Some things that one has to endure hardship for, no matter what that is - perhaps social censure, perhaps vigorous persecution, it could be anything.

To fight a good fight is to stand up for what is true; in this case perhaps we should say "the truth." In the end, fighting the good fight for Paul has been his dedication to the Person who is truth, who was truth personified, who lived his life for truth as in spiritual reality. In this we find Paul vigorous and unyielding. He has always pursued his teaching without wavering from the truth. In the paragraph above, he admonishes Timothy:

...I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

So fighting the good fight is sticking with that truth through thick and thin, enduring all and bearing all, with patience, doing your job as teacher, for the ministry and the service to the One. What shape does that take in each of our lives?