Do you think of yourself as a"fighter? All of us, at one point or another, feel as though we are in the fight of our lives. Today, we want to talk about five rounds in the battles we, as women, face.
Round 1: Our Selves
Whether we battle with ourselves over the need to stay healthy or to get fit, to fight some disease, or to gain peace of mind, it's a constant decision to choose to keep fighting and to win over our own battle of will.
1 Corinthians 9:27 in the Amplified Bible says, "But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]."
Once you come to understand that your life is worth fighting for, that it was worth redemption, and that it is worth His rescue, you can begin to see that you are worth the effort of fighting hard. There is an audience waiting and watching the way that we fight.
Round 2: Our Family
In life we can't choose the family that we are born into but as we get older and begin families of our own we need to remember that the choices we make shape the family we end up with.
Decide now what a strong family is to you and begin to fight for it. The three things that we consider to be the foundation of a healthy family are marriage, children, and God.
Fight for your marriage. A great marriage doesn't just happen. Make conscious efforts and decisions that build it up, not tear it down.
Fight for your children. We have to keep in mind that we are guiding and shaping who they are with our own actions.
Fight for a home full of God-ordained life, truth and wisdom. Fight for a relationship with God and for our kids' relationships with God. We want them to walk away from our home with a good foundation to propel them forward into their lives.
2 Samuel 10-12 says, "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God."
We have been given all the tools we need to fight the good fight, we just need to begin using them. Fight for that family you want or for the one you already have and God will bless it.
Round 3: Our Work
When we are willing to fight in the area of our work, it speaks to the value we place upon what God has put in our hands to do.
Most of us go through periods of boredom and disinterest in what we have to do to either make a living or to help others. But it's how we treat that time that allows us to be in the right position for something better in our future.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he ... should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
Being willing to fight for our work means we don't just get through the day, but we manage our day and take steps in that day to move ahead.
Round 4: Our Fun
My mother always said, "Only boring people are bored." To me that sounded like a challenge to never be a boring person.
Fun is a vital part of survival. Psalms 68:3 says, "But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy."
What does it mean to fight for fun? Life is so busy it's hard to have fun. Real fun. Sometimes we need to schedule in the fun we need. At other times, it's not scheduling we need, but spontaneity.
Win Borden said, "If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything." Start fighting for a little more fun in your life.
Round 5: Our Future
God does not put limits on us. We are the ones who limit our own potential and dreams because we don't realize who we are in God, because we live in fear, because we don't make a plan, or because we don't slow down long enough to think about it.
Our future is not just about us. It's about the whole company of women who are walking with us. It's about changing the legacy for those following behind us. It's about influencing our society for the better. It's about taking up the God-causes that come our way. Women were not born to introduce problems on the earth. We were born to be the solution.
Proverbs 31:5 "She rises while it is yet night." During dark times, the strong and valiant woman of God will rise. That's you. No matter what you are fighting right now, God is calling you to rise and fight. Don't be afraid. Fight like a girl.
• Connie Friend is a co-pastor and Mystie Morgado a youth pastor at Capital Christian Center, Carson City.