II Timothy 2:3 NKJV
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:3 NKJV
With reference to what Paul is experiencing, when he wrote this letter, he was preparing Timothy to be ready to embrace hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul mentioned this to Timothy at least five times with regards to enduring hardships. We usually want to get away from hardships and it is not something we should be looking for yet when it comes, how we endure them is very important. The making or breaking lies not on the size of the hardships but on how we face it. Paul says endure it as a good soldier of Christ. A good soldier does not act out of violence, power or our own authority but a good soldier functions under a leader and follows his commander. One thing is set in every good soldier's mind. That is he will conquer it no matter what it takes and no matter how long it takes. This is governed by the direction of his commander. All those who have conquered, won, achieved and reached their ambitions and goals will have one thing in common, hardship. When the pressure is on, everything will be exposed. Weakness, strength, lacks, abundance and creativity. Like a good soldier, we strengthen our weak areas and press forward in our strength. By doing so, we continue to build character, gain wisdom and knowledge. Society today is doing everything to get rid of hardships from people yet they expect a strong, courageous, enduring, persistent and victorious people to be raised. There are more people with great paper qualifications yet experience devastating emotional breakdowns. When there is no avenue of melting and moulding in our lives, how are we going to develop the character to persist, to endure, to conquer and become victorious? We need to face hardships like a good soldier of Christ, with His word and His command in our heart. We need to be pressing through every storm of life by following our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us put on the mind of Christ as a good soldier, as we are all called by God to walk in Him. Blessings