What Are You Fighting For? Understanding True Kingdom Living
In a world filled with competing voices and conflicting truths, every person is fighting for something. The question isn't whether you're in a battle - it's what truth you're actually standing for and whether that truth aligns with God's kingdom.
The Reality of Our Daily Battles
Whether you realize it or not, you're fighting every day. You fight with your words, your reactions to others, your convictions, and where you place your attention. We all tend to fight for what we believe is true, and whatever foundation of truth we've chosen will shape what angers us, what drives us, what we defend, and what we're willing to lose relationships over.
When Clarity Isn't the Same as Truth
Our culture is saturated with people's versions of truth - media voices, political ideologies, cultural movements, and even religious perspectives. Everyone claims to have the moral high ground. But here's a crucial distinction: clarity and conviction about your truth is not the same as alignment with THE truth.
It's possible to fight tooth and nail for something that is false. It's even possible to speak Christian language while being shaped more by your affiliations than by Jesus. You can defend what feels right without ever stopping to ask whether it actually is right.
Jesus Introduces Kingdom Truth
When Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, He was speaking to a primarily Jewish audience that had endured 600 years of foreign occupation. For 400 years, they hadn't heard from God. They were broken, afraid, oppressed, and living in silence under Roman rule.
The Shocking Nature of the Beatitudes
Imagine being in that crowd when Jesus spoke His first words in 400 years:
- "Blessed are the poor in spirit"
- "Blessed are those who mourn"
- "Blessed are the meek"
- "Blessed are the peacemakers"
To people suffering under Roman oppression, these words weren't comforting - they were shocking. Peacemakers? With the Romans? Mercy toward their oppressors? This wasn't what they expected to hear.
A New Kingdom Emerges
After centuries of shifting empires - Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome - Jesus announced a new kingdom. But this time, it wasn't another earthly power. The truth would no longer be defined by human empires but by God alone.
What Does "Seek First the Kingdom" Actually Mean?
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus gives us the formula: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." But what does this look like practically?
Seeking the King, Not Just the Kingdom
Think of seeking first the King like a child helping their parent bake cookies. The child asks at every step: "What do we do first? What's next?" When they follow the parent's lead step by step, perfect cookies result. But when the child decides to go it alone, disaster follows - burnt cookies welded to the pan.
This is the importance of seeking first His kingdom. We must consistently ask: "Father, what do you have for me today? What are we doing next?" When we steal this from God by seeking our own kingdom instead, it breaks His heart because He loves us and wants to guide us.
The Difference Between Advice and Surrender
Seeking first isn't advice - it's surrender. You cannot share the truth about Jesus while living like someone else is in charge. The question isn't whether you desire Jesus to be first, but whether He actually is first in practice, day to day.
Understanding Righteousness as Alignment
The Greek word for righteousness (dikaiosinae) means what is right according to God - His recipe, His results. It carries the sense of justice and equity, where things are lined up exactly as the King has ordered them to be.
Seeing What's Crooked in the World
Seeking righteousness means looking at the world around us like noticing a crooked picture on the wall. We see what's not the way God intended and partner with Him to set it right. This starts in the mirror - asking God to set things right in us first.
But it can't stop there. We're called to bless and change this world, carrying the good news to those who are broken and lost. Jesus went to the leper, the Samaritan woman, the demoniac - the marginalized and hurting. He embodies righteousness by saying "it's not right" that people suffer in darkness and hopelessness.
When Your Allegiance Becomes Clear
If Jesus is truly first in your life, people will matter to you - the people He loves desperately will matter. They won't be opponents or projects, but people the King wants to reach. If you say Jesus is first but aren't moving toward people who don't know Him, then something else has taken first place - maybe your safety, control, or fear.
The Blessed Practices
Practical righteousness involves:
- Prayer: Who are you praying for to encounter God?
- Listening: Setting yourself up to hear people's stories
- Sharing life: Eating together, spending time together
- Serving: Looking for opportunities to make things right in someone's life
- Sharing your story: Explaining that Jesus is the reason you can love and serve
Life Application
Stand for His Truth, Not Your Truth
This week, examine what's truly first in your life. If Jesus is genuinely your King, then your politics, motivations, and mission will all fall under His authority. But if He's not first, something else will shape your truth and cause you to fight for a different kingdom.
Ask yourself: Can the world clearly see who your king is? Do you talk about politicians, media personalities, or even pastors more than Jesus? Your allegiance should be visible, not hidden.
Questions for Reflection:
- What truth am I actually fighting for in my daily decisions and reactions?
- In what areas of my life have I been seeking my own kingdom instead of asking God "What's next?"
- Who in my life needs to see God's righteousness through my actions and words?
- What "crooked pictures" is God drawing my attention to that need to be set right?
- How can I make my allegiance to Jesus more visible this week?
The challenge is clear: seek Him first, let Him set you right, fight for what He says is right, and move toward those who don't yet know Him. When your allegiance is clear, your mission becomes natural, and you'll ring the bell of truth that echoes louder than any earthly victory.