I am going to become a cage fighter!

     Watching a cage fighting match is like watching a car crash.  It is graphic, brutal, and sometimes gory but yet you can't seem to look away.  I have been asked before if I am a cage fighter.  That question always makes me laugh.  Mainly, because I am wimp when it comes to real pain.  But then again maybe I should become a cage fighter.  Could their be a more masculine to prove your manhood than getting locked in a cage with another man who literally wants to kill you.  You only come out of the cage for 3 reasons: You win, You lose, or You give up.  

     I was reading Paul's description in Galatians 5 (the Message) about a different yet similar struggle that many of us find ourselves in.  "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.  Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.  The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry our your good intentions." 

     Just like a cage fight the stakes of this spiritual fight are high.  We are talking about your eternal soul.  We may be tempted to think that the more mature we become in our faith the less conflict we will face in life.  As I read the Bible it seems to reveal to me quite the opposite.  Many times the closer we follow Jesus the more intense the conflicts become.  I can't find in the Bible any examples of great men or women of God who achieved "spiritual retirement" and set around doing nothing "because they deserved it."  I see men like Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Caleb fighting the enemy till the day they died.  

     Just like a cage fight the only way you leave this spiritual fight is to Win, Lose, or Quit.  The last 2 options don't sound acceptable to me.  I refuse to lose my fight with the sinful nature.  I have fought to many battles to lose now.  I refuse to "tap out" because the fight is brutal.  The stakes are too high!  We are talking about my eternal soul, but also the legacy I have the potential of leaving in my friends, family and anyone else God has given me influence over.

     So I challenge you to refuse to lose or give up in your battle against "what your sinful nature craves."  You know what those things are for you: Greed, Lust, Selfishness, Rage, Depression, etc.  Never ever ever give up.  I close with the words of the great philosopher Red Green: "Remember, we are all in this thing together."