CHRISTIAN MILITARY EXTRATEGY

Dear Community! A tour of a sacred letter, sent by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, gave us the qualities of a good soldier of Jesus Christ! (2 Timothy chapter 2)

Before I ask you: Are you happy with the world you live in?

Paul used comparisons to teach Timothy to succeed in carrying out the work that God had entrusted to his hands. And here in chapter 2 is to compare the life of a Christian to a soldier. In doing this, Paul makes use of military illustrations, which is not so surprising, what lived under a military government and the same thing was in prison.

What are the qualities of a good soldier of Christ?

The good soldier of Christ is based on the grace of God. (v.1 "... strengthens you in the grace that is in Christ ...")

Paul begins this verse by referring to Timothy as a son. In fact, Timothy was the fruit of the ministry of the apostle, a son in the faith. In referring thus to Timothy, Paul demonstrates his esteem and consideration for him. Paul and Timothy joined the same celestial family.

On this occasion, we have here children and spiritual children, sisters and brothers in Christ who are part of the same family, who are washed by the blood of the lamb.

Everyone in the family needs to understand that we feed on the grace of God. And this grace that sustains us. Our spiritual strength, our sustenance, everything that comes from God and his grace dispensed in our favor. We need that strength to move forward.

The good soldier of Christ faces difficulties. (v.3 "I give account of the sufferings")

Every Christian has its struggles. But what he learned is more important than the situation we live in and the direction in which we move. There are people who do not advance when they are facing problems, and on the contrary, they become victims of difficulties, without growing up or learning with them.

In the Christian life we ​​are in the midst of a battle that demands that we have spiritual resistance. Ask God for resistance. In addition to needing resistance under test conditions, the good soldier of Christ needs to be moved by the DESIRE TO SATISFY THE WILL OF GOD, who called and summoned him. Therefore, we must turn away from everything that moves us away from God's purpose.

The good soldier Prevents pregnancies (v.4 " A soldier in service will be embarrassed with business of this life)

Pregnancies are constituted as everything that prevents us from advancing in our Christian walk. The idea of ​​this verse is to emphasize the need for dedication. Our attention must be oriented towards the spiritual realities that surround us and toward God's greater purpose for us. Our devotion to God must be something as a priority.

Jesus recommends us: "Seek the kingdom of God in the first place and all other things will be added to you..."

The good soldier enlarges Christ (v 7, 8 and 9)

"Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, my gospel, for which I suffer ... "

We must never forget that Jesus is the author of our salvation. It is because of Him that we are here, it is because of Him that this cult is happening, that we sing, that we do everything. We can never lose sight of that.

Jesus Christ is the center of our existence, the source of life, and finally the judge on whom the fate of the entire universe depends. To know him, to serve him and to honor him is the great purpose of our existence.

The good soldier of Christ not only thinks of himself, but of his brothers

(v.10 "... Therefore, I endure everything for the elect, so that they too will achieve the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with glory and that we must not forget that we must not forget that we must not forget that , in the case of a person, he can not deny himself ".)

Paul cared about other followers of Christ. Not only lived for him.

Our society is individualistic and has led many to live only for themselves, and in that way, many go to seek only their own interests. The message of the cross reminds us that we have a family and living in this family implies in terms that we make sacrifices for the welfare of it.

Living in communion with the family implies in terms that we often renounce our opinion and our own will for the greater good of the unit. What we have seen a lot in these days is that many are "untouchable", in the sense that they can not tolerate the slightest difference of opinion, and so they become full of themselves, who do not know how to listen, or accept advice or serve your brothers .

When we decide not to live only for ourselves, we need to have the awareness that our self must die. We must profess like Paul: "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me".

May God help us in that purpose.

And finally, the good soldier trusts his commander

(v.11-13 "... Faithful is this word: If, therefore, we die with him, we also live with him, 12 if we persevere, with him we will also reign, if we deny it, he will also deny us, 13 if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, because he can not deny himself.

Our trust in Christ is the guarantee of our success. The psalmist in chapter 20: 7 declares:

"Some rely on chariots and others on horses, but we will mention the name of the Lord our God."

If we trust in him and persevere, then with him we will reign, if we trust in him and we are faithful we will experience his fidelity.

God calls us to be like soldiers. The soldiers must be attentive at all times so as not to be surprised by the enemy.

Let's try to be truly vigilant. God wants to count on us. For this, we only need to be good soldiers.