Part of being a soldier is the ability to keep the peace. Soldiers have to fight at times but their other job is making peace wherever they may be. There's a lot of unrest all around and soldiers in God's Army have the power to spread the Spirit of Peace around. But to offer this peace, they must firstly have this peace themselves. You can't give out what you don't possess.
Preachers often say, 'I'm preaching to myself here,' and what they mean is, 'I'm preaching to you about what I need to sort out in myself.' When this happens, it is the Holy Spirit pinpointing things that need to be adjusted. It can happen in counselling situations where the client starts talking about something that the counsellor is struggling with too. You may have felt this when you're speaking with someone. In one way, it shows us that none of us are perfect. In another way, if we are going to witness about Jesus to someone, we need to sort out our own life. Otherwise it can verge on the side of hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a big problem in the Family of God and is something that the unbeliever looks for when they're speaking with us. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1, 'Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.' This is so true. We can be tempted to talk about a person when they're not in our presence, or believe some gossip about someone, that may not even be true. Then, we go to church and start praising God as if we've done nothing wrong. The thing is, we are not called to gossip about people or keep records of people wrongs. We're called to think the best of them - to love them. Not easy at times, probably but that's our calling and what a good soldier of Jesus does.
The final settlement for a Regular soldier is a pension, possibly a trade and various medals that they may have earned. The downside to this is the scars that they carry; the memories, the wounds and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They may also be institutionalised after serving in an environment where they are ordered around, looked after, fed etc etc. This is why we see some veterans on our streets because they just cannot face civilian life. Other ex soldiers manage in life but hide all of these memories in booze and drugs, overwork and other things.
The final settlement for a soldier in God's Army is eternal life, and the rewards from God for the service they gave to other people.
Both category of soldier have had to take the land and to overcome the enemy. One has done it with their own personal weapon in their hand, such as a rifle or machine gun, The other soldier has completed this dressed in the armour of God with a sword in their hand. Both have scars; both have been criticised, judged, disregarded and forgotten and lost friends and family. The thing is, soldiers get shot at, this is the price they pay for joining up:
"forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.'
Philippians 3:13-14
They never give up and if you belong to God's Army, I'm talking about you. You may have been wounded and scarred, left on the side-lines and beaten up by Christian life, but you're still here, you're still standing. Well done. It's been a battle you've had for a while now but you've come this far, don't give up the race now. Keep going, there's a great reward ahead. Regular Army officers have to be saluted first before they return this greeting. Your Commanding Office Jesus Christ salutes you right now for all you've done for Him and He is grateful.
But keep buffing up your kit, it's not over yet.
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