day no. 16,144: the marks of a good soldier

Luke 3:14

Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

A good soldier is a good man soldiering well. One can be competent at soldering without having the character required to be a good one. One can be a good man without being good at soldiering, but one cannot be a good man without recognizing this deficiency while doing his level best to address it. A good man cannot make peace with being bad at warfare. He laments his cowardice and/or incompetence and thus confirms himself to be a good man.

Luke 7:8-9

For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

A good soldier is authoritative because he is under authority. He can be trusted to give orders because he is trustworthy when receiving orders. He has the character to lead because he has the humility to follow. A good man is not good because he digs deep within himself, but because he draws deeply from without. He has a standard outside himself and holds himself to it. As such, he can be trusted to hold others to that standard. 

2 Timothy 2:3-4

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

A good soldier understands his situation. He does his best to avoid the snares of distractions and makes it a point to keep himself from getting tangled up in competing interests. He makes it his aim to please the one under whom he serves. He does not desire merely to fulfill orders, but to flourish in them.