After twenty-one years of professional fighting, an undefeated record, and fifteen major world championships, Floyd Mayweather Jr. said, "boxing is easy, life is much harder." I can't speak to a career in the ring, but I do know that the battles we wage as human beings-whether as spouses, parents, employees, or friends-are just as real and sometimes even more rigorous than a boxing match.
In the ring, victory might be claimed within a defined timeframe, but the battles we face as individuals extend far beyond any ring or arena. For me, the wounds stemming from these life battles-whether relational, emotional, or spiritual-cut deeper into my soul than any broken bone ever could. Perhaps you can relate.
This is precisely why fight language is a fitting description of life. It is also the explanation for the old-fashioned fistfight being a prism through which to see faith. But how is it a lens for faith? What God says and what we feel rarely line up. God's Word says he is working for our good, yet we may wonder how it can be true as we watch our family members suffer, our health deteriorate, or our loved ones die.
God's Word says we are clean and forgiven; we feel guilty and unworthy. God's Word says we are chosen and accepted; we feel lonely and rejected. The fight of faith pushes past our emotions to what God says. This doesn't just happen; we have to fight for it.
We're in the fight of our lives, and if you're anything like me, you could also use all the help you can get. I won't pretend to have all the answers here; I've spent more time on the mat than on my feet. Yet, it's on the ground where I have learned the most about the fight; in fact, many of these reflections stem from the gasping lungs, broken noses, and black eyes that life has thrown me.
In this intense battle of life, you are not alone. My hope is that these pages strengthen you, increase your spiritual resolve, and provide strategic insight for the fight of faith.