My pastor preached a message entitled "The Fight of Your Life" in which he stated that the biggest fight any of us have is against ourselves and our own selfish desires. We desire to boast in ourselves, our abilities, our hopes, our dreams, our accomplishments, and our satisfaction. The problem is that Christ desires that we are humbled and that we boast only in Him. This is a difficult concept in a world of middle class America where education and achievement are prized above all else and are to be gained no matter what the cost ( $100,000 in student loans, a life spent in the rat race, putting off marriage and family indefinately). This is a difficult concept in the world of scientific academia where everything can be proven and the lives of other animals are manipulated and sacrificed to the gods of the primary investigator, grant applications, and publication record. This is a difficult concept in the deceptive heart of a daughter of Eve who grew up with her own dreams and aspirations only to have a loving Savior gently pry them from her grasp and place them in His nail scared hands, sometimes making them come true and other times burning them in the fire that is sanctification.
I am in the fight of my life, a battle of wills you could say. I am exchanging pride for humility, momentary happiness for lasting joy, daily comfort for eternal sanctification, earthy ambition for heavenly treasures, and false idols for the true and living Christ.
