October 20

Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. — 2 Tim 2:3 BSB

“You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

How is a Christian soldier made? Is it by attending church, reading the Bible, singing hymns, or discussing religion? This would be like saying a seasoned warrior is made simply by living in the barracks. No, a Christian soldier must enter the battlefield and engage in hand-to-hand combat with Satan and the flesh. They must endure the painful wounds inflicted by both outward and inward enemies, lie on the cold ground of desolation and desertion, and charge forward when called to storm the strongholds of sin and evil, never surrendering but pressing on with the determination to either win or die trying. Through these battles of the Lord, the Christian soldier learns how to wield their weapons, how to call upon God in supplication and prayer, how to trust in Jesus Christ with all their heart, how to beat back Satan, crucify the flesh, and live a life of faith in the Son of God.

Religion is not merely theory or doctrine—it’s being in the thick of battle, fighting the enemy face to face. This real, not pretend, warfare makes the Christian soldier strong and gives them the skill to use their spiritual weapons and sometimes even drive back the enemy. It “works endurance,” turning them from a raw recruit into a seasoned veteran who is able to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What, then, have been your best allies? Your trials. Where have you learned your most valuable lessons? In the school of temptation. What has caused you to look to Jesus? A sense of your sin and misery. Why have you clung to the promises of God? Because you had nothing else to hold on to.

If you could see the results of your trials, you would understand that they have tested your faith, often to the extreme, so that it seemed as if all your faith was gone. Yet, these trials have also produced patience and endurance. Why have you not abandoned your faith long ago? Have your trials made you want to give it up? No, they have only made you cling more tightly to it. Have your temptations convinced you to let go of your faith as if it were of little value? Not at all—you have never had more real faith than when it was tested to see if it was genuine. You have never held on to your faith more tightly than when Satan was trying to pull it from your grasp. The strongest believers are not those who merely hold to doctrine, but those who have lived through experience; not the boasters, but the fighters; not those who parade around in spotless uniforms, but the tattered, wounded soldiers who give no quarter to sin or Satan.