The Christian life is not a playground but a battleground.  However, it is not a violent struggle against people who do not believe in Jesus, or against people who hate you … because Jesus said, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).  Ephesians 6:12 says that our struggle is against unseen foes: Satan and his demons who manipulate the world to reject Jesus, and persecute believers, tempt the church to disbelieve God’s Word, and stir up our fleshly nature to please ourselves rather than God who made us.
 
What is “the good fight of the faith”?  2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”   Those strongholds are wherever Satan assumes authority in the world, the church and even within ourselves.  Our weapon is “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).  Only the Word of God enables us to separate truth from lies, and it is only through the Spirit of God who works within us that we can desire the truth and be able to do what is right.  We trust what God says, and we obey Him - praying for strength and protection as we do so.  

We ‘lay hold’ of eternal life as we cling in trust to the Lord, assured that our sins are forgiven and our eternal inheritance is secure through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us (1 Peter 1:3-5).  With that confidence we can live courageously in the face of evil.  We confront evil powers every time we refuse to be intimidated by the lies of Satan or give in to his temptations.  The Holy Spirit assures every believer that we belong to God for ever (Romans 8:15), giving inner strength to confess our relationship with the Lord and live in His power (Romans 10:8-11).
 
Romans 10:9 says, “… if you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Christian faith is not a secret inner piety.  It is an active godly lifestyle with unashamed verbal confession that Jesus Christ is our Lord.  But the Evil One tries to shut our mouths and accentuate our failures so that we give up.  We need Paul’s advice to Timothy - “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called”.  ‘Take hold’ is the opposite of ‘letting go’.  Whatever the pressure, do not let go of Jesus because He has promised to hold you for all eternity!