Why discipline will always get you winning - Key Lessons

Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. (2 Tim 2: 4-6)

This passage uses a series of images, such as the soldier, athlete, and field-laborer, to illustrate the idea of hard work and striving for a prize. These examples are repeated in other parts of the Bible, such as in 1 Corinthians 9:7-10, and provide a deeper understanding of the various figures used.

What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? (1 9:7-10)

The connection between the soldier and athlete lies in the idea of striving lawfully, which is also emphasized in 1 Timothy 1:8. This is explained further in 1 Corinthians 9:25, which states that every man who strives (competes) in the games is temperate (disciplined) in all things and must strive lawfully in order to receive the prize.

“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”. (1 Cor 9:25)

And if a man also strive for masteries,.... In the Olympic games, by running, wrestling, leaping,  and yet is he not crowned; with a corruptible, fading crown, a crown made of gold, silver or bronze except he strive lawfully, that is, according to the laws and rules fixed for those exercises. 

So no man that calls himself a Christian, minister, or any other, can expect the crown of life, the prize of the high calling of God, except he runs the race set before him, in the right way; looking to Christ, the mark, pressing through all difficulties, towards the prize, and holds on and out unto the end.

Similarly, the husbandman or farmer that labors is the successful tiller of the ground, emphasizing the idea of enduring, patient, and self-sacrificing toil being rewarded in both common life and spiritual matters. The man who endures hardship, whether as a soldier, athlete, or tiller of the ground, is the one who will ultimately receive the reward.