To run or to fight?
Some battles are worth fighting, and other times we’re better off just walking away. It would be easy to talk in these terms about conflict with other people…but let’s ask the harder question instead:
How do we know the difference – when to run and when to fight – when it comes to our internal struggles and desires?
Because here’s our dilemma:
If we run when we should fight, it is a clear loss.
If we fight when we should run, then we waste time in a losing battle and risk injury or ruin.
Last time, we looked at Paul’s warning to Timothy regarding the seductively destructive desire for money and wealth. Paul’s advice for dealing with money-love? RUN AWAY
1 Timothy 6:9-11
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
Now you, man of God, run from these things;
Loving money and what money can do for us will inevitably pull us away from God. That pull can be as subtle as a distraction or as painful as a trap. As such, Paul says having money as our primary driver is something to get away from. And rather than dreaming of riches, Timothy needs something better to chase after:
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Now you, man of God, run from these things;
but pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
Fight the good fight for the faith;
take hold of eternal life,
to which you were called
and have made a good confession
before many witnesses.
Paul has presented a practical contrast for Timothy:
He is to run from the trapping desire to get rich and get away from loving/craving money.
Instead
He is to fight to acquire the eternal life qualities of God and what God has called Timothy to do.
Beyond the direct application of Paul’s instruction (which would be extremely helpful), we can also draw out these principles:
We are to run from – the attitudes and actions that pull us away from God, from those things that try and take His top place in our lives.
We are to fight for – the attitudes and actions that draw us closer to God, for those things that keep Him in the top place in our lives.
When (not if) we find ourselves presented with an internal conflict, we need to check which direction we’re being pulled in…and then choose to either run or fight accordingly.
Keep Pressing,
Ken