You Have To Get Into The Ring To Win—Me vs. Me
1 Samuel 25:6-35 1 Timothy 6:6-16
We are starting a new series in which we recognize we have been called to enter into a fight . 1 Timothy 6:12 says for us to fight the good fight of faith.
Like a boxer we can expect our opponents to come at us in different ways, with different strategies and different goals. In the first week its going to be Me vs Me. Then Me vs You. Then Me vs The World and finally Me vs. God. The one person featured each week is Me.
When you think about the sport of boxing, you know before a boxer gets into the ring there is a lot of rigorous training that goes into the process. It’s called getting in shape.
Some of the training is painful but you do it to have the best chance of winning the battle. One thing every boxer knows is that “In order to win, You have to at least get into the ring. You have to face your opponent.”
Anyone who desires to be a champion for Christ, has to get inside the ring against an opponent. At some point you will stand face to face. In the ring there is not only an opponent, but also a referee who determines what you can and cannot do in the fight.
That referee for the believer is none other than Jesus Christ. Here’s the downside to this referee name Jesus. Jesus will call you for fouls and infractions, and low blows that he lets your opponent get away with time and time again.
So you know before you get into the ring, its not necessarily going to be a fair fight. But as a believer, you get into the ring anyways.
Knowing the fight is not going to be fair is one of the reasons, we would rather do our fighting outside the ring where we think the referee can’t see us, and we can level the playing field. However when we do, we can’t become a champion for Christ.
We must also remember, the Referee Jesus will breathe some power into us when we’re going down that He will not breathe into our opponent when we land a solid blow.
In our Old Testament reading, David was a person seeking to follow God, but at this point in his life, he has been labeled as a traitor to the king with an intent to overthrow the government.
So David is forced to hiding in the hills with a group of men who want to follow David. David comes upon this rich guy’s animals and thinks to himself, “now I could just take what I want, but no I will do the right thing.”
I will watch over this rich man’s animals, protect his workers, and keep other thieves away. When the rich guy Nabal finds out what I did, he will be so grateful, he will pay me and my men with blessings for watching over his flocks.
David and his men spend weeks protecting Nabal’s property. When it comes to getting wool from the sheep, and killing some of the animals for a feast, David sends his servants to tell Nabal what a great job he has done protecting him, and now just pay him whatever he thinks the job is worth.
Nabal said, “I didn’t ask him to do it. I don’t know who David is. I’m not giving him any of my property. He tells David men, “to get off his property and don’t come back.”
David is furious. David is thinking, I gave him my time, my men for protection, and my having his back and this is how he treats me. Everybody get your sword. We are going to go back there and kill Nabal.
He paid me back evil for the good I did and he’s going to pay for it. We will kill every male in his house and in his fields. David thinks, he needs to get in the ring with Nabal in order to win this battle.
But what God wants David to do, is to understand is that David needs to get in the ring with David. Because there is a David who wants to do what he wants to do competing with a David who wants to become a man after God’s own heart.
The person who realizes who needs to be in the ring, is Nabal’s wife Abigail. When she finds out how Nabal treated David’s servants after all they had done for them, she prepares all kinds of food, meat, and deserts to take to David and his men. She reaches David and his war party before they reach Nabal’s house and presents them with the food.
She reminds David, that what he does today, will affect what he will become in the future. She says, “ I know you are being pursued unjustly, but eventually God is going to make you the king. Do not think about what you’re feeling today, but rather think about what God wants for you in the future.
If you can overlook this insult, you will show that you do not have to avenge yourself, and you will not have needless shedding of blood on your hands when you become king.
This wakeup call from this wise woman causes David to realize that the real battle going on was not between him and Nabal, but rather between David today and the David God wants him to be tomorrow.
Do you know what really made David upset. He felt his rights had been violated. He was thinking, I used my time, my men, and my expertise and got nothing for it.
It never occurred to David that Nabal had not asked him to do any of these things. It didn’t occur to David that this was a test in his life to steer him in a different direction.
Even though he stopped this time, He didn’t take it as test from the Lord. David had a vision to build a temple for God to show his appreciation. God forbid it because David had shed too much blood.
There is a very small word in the English language that causes us great anguish and arguments with others because we don’t realize when it changes its meaning.
If I say this is “my” pencil, what does “my pencil”, mean and what is its relationship to me? I can use it or not use it. I can keep it or give it away. I can break it, sharpen it, write with it, or put it in the trash can and nobody is going to say anything about it because its “my” pencil.
What if I say this is “my” money. Am I free to do with my money, the same as I can with my pencil or does someone else have a claim on my money with or without my permission?
What if I say this “my” child? Am I free to do with my child anything I want to do or do I have to listen to others?
What if I say this is “my” spouse? Can I expect my spouse to belong to me in the same way that my child does? Can I schedule my spouse like I schedule my child?
What if I say this is “my” God? Can I expect my God to belong to me in the same way that my spouse does? Do I own some of God?
Do you notice how the word “my” differs in terms of my authority and the authority that is yielded back over me. We are not always aware of how the word ‘My” gives us both privileges and responsibilities.
We may even be tempted to treat “ my God” in the same way that we treat “my pencil” or “my money” thinking that we have an authority over God that allows us to decide how we can use God for our own purposes.
Far too many people believe, “what good is having a god, who will not see to it that we get what we want in life.”
When we think in terms of my (whatever it is) , if someone tries to take it away from how we planned for it to be used we become annoyed or irritated by it. We might even get an attitude problem. For instance if you are married, you think of your time as your time.
If in your mind you have set aside a particular amount of time to spend with your spouse, and then someone calls to talk to them during that time frame, and they talk back and cuts short that time or someone comes over for a minute and takes that time, your get angry. Why, because they stole some of your time.
We feel entitled to 24 hours a day and the right to split it up however we choose. If we have a 2 hour slot scheduled for our spouse, they had best fill in that slot. After all he or she is my spouse. But how many of us know that we don’t own any time.
Time is a gift that is given us from God. We hate to think that God might have other plans for our time than what we have. We hate to think that God might have other plans for my money, my children, my goals, my spouse and my talents than we have.
Here is the part where Jesus reminds us of what it means to follow him. Jesus said, All of them who want to follow me, must first deny themselves, pick up their cross and then come follow me.
Do you see that Jesus realizes we have to first get in the ring with ourselves? We have to take that initial step of getting into the ring. We look at ourselves and say, it’s not all about me. It’s really is not mine.
When I chose to follow Christ, I gave up my right of ownership. Everything I have belongs to Christ. What I have is a gift from God which God entrusted to me for God’s glory and benefit.
Even this body I have is not my own to do as I please with it. It has been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, and turned into a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is a lamp shining in the darkness. It is a city set upon a hill which cannot be hidden. Everything about it, is to point others to the light of Jesus Christ.
But we can’t do that if we refuse to get in the ring and realize we need to knock some things out of our way of thinking.
What do you think Jesus means when he tells you, that you are my disciple? How much ownership of you is he claiming? How much do you want him to be claiming?
Have you ever thought that some of the annoyances we face, are part of the training we are going through to become more like Christ. The apostle Paul told us in the book of 1 Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith.”
Okay what is it that we should be going after. Just before that section it warns us against trying to be rich and falling in love with money. Most people are not seeking to get riches to be a blessing to others, most people are seeking an independence from having to depend on God.
They want to be the god of their lives. It is not until you learn what contentment is that you will put yourselves in the place of being a blessing to others and to the kingdom of God. Until then, you are slave to what the next newest, biggest, fastest, shiniest thing to come along.
Every follower of Christ is fighting with themselves over how much of this money is my money and how much of it is God’s money. Isn’t it something how we have no problem with the county saying of everything you buy, you are going to give us 8%.
The City comes along and says of all you earn 2% comes to us. The state and federal government comes along and takes another big percentage and we think nothing of it. Some 30% of our income is gone to support the work of government through.
Jesus comes along and says we should give 10% without neglecting justice and mercy and we have a real problem with that. We are going to have more money spent on our funeral saying goodbye to this world than we gave for the ministry of Christ while we were alive.
I am amazed that over 25% of our covenant partners vote every week to fire Pastor Kellie and myself by the way they give. They are not close to getting in the ring to fight on this issue. They believe they can be champions for Christ without supporting his ministry.
How do we fight the good fight of the faith? The word tell us to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
Righteousness means obedience to the word of God and godliness means to have the right motive behind what you are doing because your goal is to become what God is making you for in eternity.
God want us to do the right thing while we are in the ring, but God also wants us to do it for the right reason. We’re not in the ring just to be seen by others, we’re in the ring to be found pleasing to God.
Faith and love always go together. Our love has to be dependent on a faith in God on whom we depend and for whom we believe makes all things right in the end. Our love is not always going to be returned but we love just the same.
We know a boxing match not is always over at the end of round one. You can even look pretty ugly after round one. We need faith from God to be able to forgive those who keep hitting us in the ring after the bell has sounded. They find all kinds of ways to cheat, yet we know we have to get ready for round two.
Endurance and patience are the same word. Jesus made it clear that his followers would be treated badly at times and that some would even lose their lives. So often we give up just a few minutes earlier than our deliverance would have arrived if we had just held out a little longer.
We think this temptation is just so strong, if I just give in to it once, I will get it out of my system. The reality is, if you give in, it will have a foothold in your life that you might not be able to get rid of it.
Ask someone to pray for you about the situation. Jesus is our example of endurance and patience.
The word of God tell us to pursue gentleness. When I am angry or upset or someone has hurt my feelings, responding with gentleness is not my first desire.
I have to deal with wanting to get them straight or wanting to make sure they understand my position or even worse wanting to get revenge.
And yet I think of how gentle Jesus was with the soldiers who beat his back until there was little skin left on it, the soldiers who nailed the nails into his hands and feet, and with those who made fun of him as he hung suffering in pain on the cross.
Jesus got into the ring during his crucifixion, and he was able to knockout hate, knockout revenge, knockout judgment and in the process won the prize that was necessary so that all who would believe in him would be saved.
In this first message, I hope you realize you have to get in the ring and go to battle against yourself as the first step in winning the life God has for you. No one is crowned champion without at least getting into the ring. Are you willing to get in the ring for Jesus. He certainly got into the ring for you.
There are 4 opponents we have to get in the ring with to win our fight of faith: 1. Me 2. You, 3. The World and 4.God. This sermon looks at the battle we have to win against ourselves.
