Prepare to Fight

I grew up in the mountains and one of the best training exercises we had was climbing high hills. We would get very tired, but quitting was not in our vocabulary—we would rest and then start climbing again. We learned not to fear a huge challenge but to conserve our strength as we continued to overcome the challenges that lay before us.

Some years ago, I enjoyed taking a group of nearly 20 teens with packs on a long hike in the Canadian Rockies. The hike began on fairly level ground, but at the end, there was a mountain pass we needed to scale. I was usually the last person to the top because I stayed behind to encourage those who were so tired that they wanted to quit. We would take 20 steps and then rest, get up and go again.

On one trip, as we neared the top, I saw three teenage girls sitting with their arms around one another, crying. I thought I was in trouble, but when I approached, they said they had never seen anything so beautiful in all their lives. That was the view at the top of the climb—the reward for their effort. I also saw the change that came over several teenage boys whom I had encouraged to keep going. They were the last ones up the mountain, but that gave them confidence and taught them a valuable lesson. These teens were the first to sign up the next summer.

A Different Type of Fight

One of life’s important lessons is the principle of knowing how to fight. That does not always mean boxing or martial arts or spiritual warfare. The kind of fighting that is needed and beneficial in our lives is the kind that reflects courage, determination, a never-quit attitude and perseverance. It requires the understanding of knowing when to fight and when to flee. Certainly, those qualities are needed in everyone who is in a struggle or a battle.

Life is filled with troubles, small and great. We’re reminded of this in Job 14:1, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” We all realize that troubles can come in waves, and they are ongoing our entire life. The Bible tells us “. . . to count it all joy when you fall into various trials . . .” (James 1:2-6). However, if we have never learned to fight—that is, if we have not learned to be courageous, brave and smart, we could drown in a sea of troubles that leave us discouraged. Life can be wonderful, adventurous, and joyful if we learn to face all that comes our way. If we have never prepared to face the rough seas that life will throw at us—then we can come to hate trials and slip into a thought pattern of sorrow and sadness, and feel that life is unfair and unbearable. A mindset of helplessness, defeat or hopelessness can lead to depression and/or thoughts of self-harm.

Our Creator knew how to give us the best chance to be fighters right from our creation. Babies are born struggling and facing situations from the start. They loudly proclaim their needs of hunger, discomfort, or pain. They learn to walk by falling repeatedly, but they get up to try again. That is a quality that needs to be encouraged. Too often, doting parents will want to lift the baby up or make sure he does not hurt himself, but this is a good start for learning to be a fighter. Babies may rest for a time after a fall, but after they rest, they will try to walk again and again—until they master the problem. Loving parents will encourage their children to resist their inner desire to quit or to rest too often.

The Value of the Fight

Lessons of childhood lay the foundation for developing persistence, patience, determination and qualities that help us face challenges the rest of our lives. Experience helps us develop tools that we can use over and over again, such as learning to take the time to think when faced with a problem. Many parents don’t realize that their character and successes in life were formed by facing hardships. Not recognizing this truth, these parents will try to do everything in their power to remove difficulties from their children’s lives. Children need challenges and the experience that comes from facing troubles. Parents can encourage, give guidance and be there to help when needed, but also to let the child develop strength and skill that is vital to living life with gusto and joy.

With time and experience, guided by those who have gone before, we can learn to negotiate the troubles life brings. Almighty God is our parent—our Father. He is deeply concerned about teaching us to become fighters. We are to face the adversary of God, which is Satan, and all the evil and wicked ways Satan hurts mankind. Peter wrote that we are to develop the divine nature of God by diligently practicing virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love so we will never stumble (2 Peter 1:4-8). These qualities are not learned overnight; they are developed with the guidance of God’s Word in our lives.

Peter also wrote, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Though we may be grieved with various trials as we are going through the process of developing a godly nature, we are expected to persevere and endure and never quit or give up. God expects those qualities in His children. He also explained that we would be tested as we travel toward the end of our faith—the salvation of our souls.

A Battle Worth Fighting

Within the human race, there are great differences in abilities. We may differ in mental ability or talents or traits due to culture and habits we have learned or circumstances that have trained us in various ways. We all need to change; but for some, that is not easy.

It is a blessing when a child has parents who understand the need to help them grow up to be a man or woman of quality. Parents who value that which God values, as pointed out in the Bible, are able to train up their children to be able to face their own challenges and also to be of help to others. Ask your parents, trusted adults in your congregation or your pastor about the battles they have faced. Learn from their experiences about this important quality of character—that of having the “never quit” nature of a warrior.

Being a fighter takes effort, practice, and training. It takes a teacher who can point out the areas of weakness that we need to correct. There is no doubt that our heavenly Father and Elder Brother are warriors (Revelation 19:11-16). They hate evil and have faced Satan from the beginning (Proverbs 8:13). Paul tells us, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). If we are to be like Them, then we, too, must learn to fight.