Worth fighting for.

"If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now." -Jeffrey R. Holland, Cast Not Away Therefore Thy Confidence

"Pursue your goals with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.  You are doomed to failure if you pursue them in a vacillating manner." -Robert D. Hales, Ten Axiom to Guide Your Life


"Sam: 'Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't.  They kept going.  Because they were holding on to something.'  Frodo: 'What are we holding onto, Sam?'  Sam: 'That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo...and it's worth fighting for.'" The Two Towers (2002 Film)

There are some things in life worth fighting for.  Call them goals, call them priorities, call them treasures of the heart; ultimately, they are the reason we arise each morning with purpose.

People are worth fighting for.

In a society increasingly focused on instant gratification, illusory perfection and misleading superficiality, the patience-trying, at times glaringly imperfect and frustratingly complex people that fill our lives are worth fighting for.  The children's drawings on our refrigerators outshine the framed degrees on our walls.  The warm memories of Christmas conversations with loving parents outlast the company's holiday bonus check.  The quiet movie night with our spouse at home lifts us more than any exotic business trip.  The people standing at our graveside overshadow any other ephemeral "life achievements."

Loved ones are worth fighting for.

A Facebook "friendship" only intrudes on your space when it's convenient.  A romance novel only asks for your time when you're ready to waste it.  The ideal spouse, the perfect child, the sibling we wish we had...they're easy to love in the abstract.  But ours is the enriching opportunity to nurture friendships even when it's inconvenient, to sacrifice time for the pursuit of meaningful romance, to love the wonderfully imperfect spouse, child, and sibling who make life worth living.

We fight for our loved ones when we:

• Make them a priority; when we fit our schedules around them.
• Learn what makes them feel loved, and adjust our efforts of affection accordingly.
• Put their own well-being and happiness above our own self-centered doubts, frustrations, distractions and routines.
• Magnify our gender roles to provide and protect (men) or support and nurture (women).
• Avoid the trap of filling our life with so many good things (jobs, education, church responsibilities, hobbies) that we're too busy for the great things.
• See their potential with an eye of faith and recognize our own power to help them achieve it.

Ours is the opportunity to become a positive, uplifting influence in the lives of our loved ones as we truly learn to "lose ourselves in the service of others" by eschewing the modern-day temptations of "virtual" relationships, isolating entertainment, and multi-tasking "busy-ness" for the rich blessings of focused and steadfast commitment towards others.

And that's worth fighting for.