How to be a Sweet Fighter

Sweet and fighter usually do not go together. We think of “sweet” as something soft and smooth and “fighter” as something rough and tough. And yet this is the essence of the meaning of the word that Paul uses in 2 Timothy 4:7 to describe the fight that he has fought. He said it was a sweet fight that he fought. In most translations the word is translated as “good,” and yet in other places in the Bible it is translated as “beautiful, admirable, and/or precious.”

What kind of fight is fought by a sweet fighter?

The Bible teaches us that we are engaged in a spiritual fight when we begin to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. It says that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but “…against principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12). Some call this fight spiritual warfare. The key to spiritual fighting is found in the word that Paul uses in the Timothy passage; “good.”

This is the word that the Bible uses to describe God. God is good. And His Word is sweet, beautiful, precious, and good because He is. Fighting the good fight means that you fight according to the word and ways of God. How did Jesus defeat sin? By His righteous Life. How did He overcome hatred? With love. What did Jesus do when He came face-to-face with the envy, jealousy, and greed of the Pharisees? He stayed faithful to His Father and the mission He was on.

There was no meanness in the way Jesus fought, but there is power! Spiritual warfare is fought with the fruit of the Spirit. That is why Paul could call it the “good” fight that he fought. He was a beautiful fighter, a precious fighter, a sweet fighter because he fought from and with the victorious Life of Jesus Christ living in him, with him, through him, as him.

The word “good” in the Greek is a word describing something that is seen as good. You see, according to the meaning of this word, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the Beholder in this case is God! He sees the fight that we are in and it is sweet in His eyes because He sees Himself in us as we fight with His weapons. He loves it because He won!

What about you? How do you fight? Let’s fight as sweet fighters, as beautiful fighters, as precious in the sight of our Lord. And in the end we will be able to say with Paul, “the sweet fight, I fought.”

Be a sweet fighter, go out there and giv’em Heaven!

A Tattooed Mind

Webster’s dictionary defines a tattoo as an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by production of scars. Tattoos are permanent. And they advertize with a constant message. Depending upon where they are put on the body, they can be covered up, but they cannot be removed.

Did you know that you can tattoo your mind with God’s Word? There is no greater discipline to change your mind than putting God’s Word to memory and meditating on it throughout the day. And just like a tattoo on your body, the tattoo on your mind will also be permanent and speak a constant message to you. It will shape the way you think and speak. Others will hear it just like others notice a tattoo on a person’s body.

But you can also cover it up with worry, fear, busy-ness, lust, pride, anger, and wandering boredom. It is a choice every day, just like getting dressed every day; you decide whether you are going to cover it up or not.

Try this: Take one verse a day, write it on a card, and memorize it for that day (Psalm 119 is a huge reservoir of verses). Meditate on it by exploring its meaning with prayer. Think about any songs or hymns you know that are based upon it. Turn it into a prayer for that day. Share it with someone else during the day. Let it be the last thing you think about as you go to sleep and the first thing you think about before your feet hit the floor in the morning.

Warning: You cannot stay the way you are if you practice this. Your mind will change. God will tattoo your mind and it will forever be there, not just in this life, but in the next one, too. Don’t try this if you are satisfied with your own thoughts. Don’t go near it. Don’t even experiment with it.  It is addicting.

And I invite you to try it. You will never be the same again!