Mighty Monday - February 16, 2026

Jude has to be one of the most interesting books of the Bible to me. It’s just 25 verses; a quick read for a society that likes quick access to information. Yet this short and compact writing holds a powerful message . Since it doesn’t seem to be written to a specific church, the assumption is that it is meant for a broad spectrum of believers. In verse 3, Jude encourages believers to fight hard for the faith. Why? Because the community of believers is being infiltrated by liars.

Well, liars may be a strong word for some of us. I’ll soften my tone by using the words “false teachers”.

Jude does a good job of showing what these people are like so we can clearly find them by their behavior. In verse 16, he calls them grumblers and complainers. They like to brag about themselves. They love to flatter others. They want to fulfill their own desires.  In verse 17, he calls them scoffers, which also translates to mockers. They ridicule the faith and those who live by it. Jude highlights how these people put their own agenda first. Their core purpose is to cause division.

It is in verse 20 where Jude tells believers how they need to contend for the faith. They have to “build themselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit and keeping themselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ when he returns”. This is about keeping hope in their hearts despite what they see happening from unbelievers and believers alike.

Next Jude advises on how believers fight for those in seasons of doubt and for those who do not know or understand Christ. They must have compassion, and they must teach and live so they can be vessels as Christ saves.

Written sometime around 65 AD, Jude wasn’t predicting a time to come. He was responding to a need. Like cultural issues drove Jude to write a letter of encouragement, they drive us to keep speaking the truth and not our personal desires.

Contending for the faith starts as a personal exercise. We need to take self inventory. As a believer in Christ, are you experiencing doubt? Do you have a sense of hopelessness? Are you so angry you envision hurtful or violent responses? Does your agenda spew hate and division? And most importantly, is hate and division God's agenda?

Fighting for our faith in Christ has to happen within.

Prayer:

Lord God, help us to see how we each need to take personal inventory and fight for the faith starting inside ourselves so that we can be the salt of earth and the light of the world by our love for others.

Take it one step further

If you’d like to dig deeper dive into the book of Jude, take a look at the Contend for the Faith - 4 part series on our SurrenderedPen YouTube channel.