fight the good fight

A translation of the Koine Greek phrase ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς πίστεως (agōnízou tòn kalòn agôna tês písteōs, “fight the good fight of faith”) in 1 Timothy 6:12 that appeared first in the Tyndale Bible, then in the King James Version.

fight the good fight

1. To battle or try to achieve something for a noble cause.
   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 37, in The Monastery:

     "My brethren," he said, "since God has not given our people victory in the combat, it must be because he requires of us, his spiritual soldiers, to fight the good fight of martyrdom."

   • 1912, Mary Roberts Rinehart, "God's Fool" in Love Stories:

     [W]ho had imagined that her instruments of healing were a thermometer and a prayer-book; and who found herself fighting the good fight with a bandage machine?

   • 2001 June 10, Walter Kim, "What Do You Tell The Kids?," Time (retrieved 16 July 2014):

     Wouldn't it be nobler by far to fight the good fight with all the weapons available: a firm bass voice, a wagging finger, the Bible?