We fight a lot of battles in our lives. We fight fear, temptation, lust, and just overall sin. And it has taken a lot of time and teachings to understand that those battle were already fought and won. I learned this sitting in a pew listening to my pastor, a man I have looked up to my entire life, teach. The fight of flesh is finished, the Son of man declared so Himself on the cross (John 19:28-30).
It’s interesting to me because a lot of christians, myself definitely included, know about faith and we have talked about faith but we don’t fight the fight of faith. No, instead we get hung up on and stuck in trying to wrestle and toil over fleshly things, things that are fleeting and temporary.
Jesus didn’t just take sin and the fleshly things to the cross, He took you to the cross with Him. He died for you along with you on that cross. And it is because of this wonderful revelation that we don’t have to waste our precious time on this earth focusing on and and fighting over sin. But we die daily to ourselves, just as Paul says (1Corinthians 15:31), and we fight the fight of faith. To strengthen our relationship with the Creator, to spend time with Him instead of spending our time in fear, anxiety, condemnation, and even self-righteousness.
God’s mercies are new every single morning and His faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:22-23) and He has offered us, offered you, freedom from your past. There is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1), no reason to live life in a vicious and worthless cycle of self-degradation and condemnation.
When we let ourselves focus fully on the flesh and begin trying to fight with it, that is when we allow ourselves to believe that our actions and what we do will be what saves us. And it’s in those moments that we can slip into a dishonesty with God. Instead of going to Him with the truth saying; ‘Yes Lord I’m scared, worried, anxious, jealous, selfish, etc. and I don’t want that anymore, and I need You’. We try to hide those things from Him, and try to take them into our own hands.
I saw a quote earlier this week that goes really well with this and it says, “God meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be.” And wow, when I read this it made everything click even more because you can’t pretend with Him. We don’t need to be afraid to admit our faults. He’s sees the inner workings of your heart and if I’m being fully transparent yes, sometimes that can be an intimidating fact. Because there have been times where I don’t like the things I think or feel, so what is God going to think? And let me tell you that is not the viewpoint to see it from.
Again Gods mercy is shown to us, because God knows what we need before we even have to ask (Matthew 6:8). So it is beautiful and intimate, not intimidating, because in a world where we (humans) can’t read each others minds God knows what is going on in your life and you don’t have to break it down for Him. Just go to Him raw, honest, and completely open because He says that you are beautiful and worthy. And that is what matters, not a single other persons thought of you matters but His.
So fight the fight of faith, seek Him. And take the mask off because you do not have to pretend with Him.