Skip to main content

What Does it Take to be a Good Soldier for Christ? - Part 1

With Independence Day approaching, I began thinking about what it takes to be a part of our nation's armed forces as they protect our lives and freedoms.  Why do they do what they do?  How do they do it?  What can we learn from them?  The Holy Spirit and those thoughts led me to 2 Timothy 2:1-7 where even the heading in my bible is titled, "A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus."  For me, each of these seven verses gives us a characteristic of a soldier that we can incorporate into our lives for Christ as well.

V1 - "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

A soldier has to belong. 

For me to call someone my child, there has to be some sense of pride and ownership in that person, in their life and their potential.  To be a child, you must have been chosen.  Children are also supposed to take on a submissive role to their parent.  Before a soldier begins to receive training and be taught how to become a better warrior, he must first commit to the organization and be accepted into it.

Paul then talks about being strengthened.  In order for a child or a soldier to be made stronger, someone has to invest some time and effort into them.  They have to train, learn, study, and practice the skills and disciplines being taught them by someone else.  Before we can get on God's strength program and receive the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives us, we must commit our lives to him by placing our faith in Christ. 

Who do you belong to?  When you call out to God, does he call you "My Child?"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...

Worship > Fellowship

I believe that worship, true worship of God, is more important than fellowship with other believers.  Now I'm not saying that fellowship and relationships aren't important.  But I am saying that if I'm not worshiping God, if I'm not right with him, then my other relationships can't be right.  My fellowship and worship with him is more important than my relationship with my wife, my son, family, friends, my church, and my community.  Think about it.  How can I love my wife like Christ loved the church if I don't love Christ?  I wouldn't know how to love without knowing him.  Why should she submit to me if I'm not worth submitting to?  And yes I do believes wives should submit, but I also believe that won't be an issue as long as she's submitting to a godly husband.  (Ephesians 5:22-25) Our love for others must flow from our love and worship of God.  1 John 4:19-21 reads, "We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says,...

The Power of Our Tongue

"How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." - James 3:6 When we think of fire, we may think of a small campfire to roast marshmallows, a wood stove fire that is contained, or possibly a raging inferno that is destroying a building or forest.  James here is comparing our tongue to a fire.  The sinful words that come out of our mouths have the power to destroy everything they touch, and like a fire can do so rapidly or slowly, but with dramatic effect either way.  We should also be mindful of our speech because even if it's not directly what we say, the permeating "smoke" from our speech can destroy the things around us as well.  Often times even when we are filled with good and honorable actions, our tongue can stain, or contaminate, our body throug...