As Paul was finishing his life, he wrote to Timothy and told him to endure hardness as a good soldier. What exactly does that mean to be a good soldier and endure hardness?
One example from Paul’s life involves Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. When Paul first visited these places, he was thrown our of Antioch; he escaped from Iconium before a plot to kill him was brought to fruition; and at Lystra he was stoned – possibly to death. Yet not too long after, he revisited these cities to help establish the saints that he had converted there.
That certainly is an example of a good soldier: “not terrified of your adversaries.”