You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also competes as an athlete, yet is he not crowned, unless he strives lawfully. The farmer that labors must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give you understanding in all things.
(2 Timothy 2:1-7)