What do you make of 2 Timothy 2: 3-7? No quoted commentaries please.

What do you make of 2 Timothy 2:3-7? (no quoted commentaries please).

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” 2 Timothy 2:3–7 (KJV 1900)

To me, it parallels living the Sermon on the Mount. Where you forsake career, take the cross and follow Jesus. In doing so, God becomes your career and means of food and clothing. Plus the source of all the necessities the world spends its time looking for.

All too many individuals and assemblies today are doing exactly what these words warn against doing.

Paul in prison, nearing his own end, exhorts his younger protégé by letter to carry on teaching the gospel Paul taught. He likens the work to a soldier who suffers hardship - but one for Christ - and an athlete striving to master his effort who won't win a medal unless he follows the rules. Finally he compares the work of an evangelist to that of a farmer who has the right to a part of the first harvest of a season. The idea of the latter being that the evangelist has a right to make his living in the work. A right which Paul did not exercise for himself.

That is how it reads to me. What do commentaries say? Did I get any of it right?

These are instructions from Paul, to Timothy as a front line worker in the ministry: Paul was a good example of "enduring Hardness" as he was beaten, stoned, imprisoned etc. He gave warning to Timothy that similar difficulties would also await him. The second line speaks of not getting involved in worldly pursuits, but rather only those things that pertain to the ministry as a "soldier" of Christ. The next line involves personal spiritual growth, in that disciplines of the body and the spirit if sought after, can be honed to a high degree, or mastered, but only if done lawfully. He goes on to say that God gives the crown for personal victories, but a man who desires such personal growth can only achieve that status if he is striving for it "lawfully" or within the guidelines of Biblical righteousness. The husbandman refers to the worker, (Timothy) in the vineyard of God, and that such workers MUST FIRST be partaker of the fruits, meaning the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5: 22-24.
To sum up, the "credentials" for successful ministry are real and require maturity for any success. All ministries, after conversion, will require self control and humility, with a goodly application of a maturing process.

These are instructions to ministers of the Word (and generally to Christians). They are to (1) endure hardships, (2) avoid entanglement with secular matters, (3) do everything lawfully, and (4) receive compensation for their service in the ministry of the Word. Just as a farmer or fruit grower is entitled to partake of his own crops, "those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:14).

Verse 6, in the KJ is using the words " MUST BE FIRST" partaker of the fruits. The NKJV and the NIV among other versions, allege this must mean compensation or payment, which does not agree with the context of qualifications for successful service. The text for verse 6 has been changed to a commentary, or secular meaning in the other versions. Now, before you whet your appetite, thinking I mean to debate the versions, that is not my intent, but rather what the context and meaning has said.

This passage is not so much about qualifications as it is about directives. And one of those directives is compensation and its source. For passages on qualifications you need to go elsewhere.

feast of booths.
God is our home, we are in this world presently but not of it - 'encamped' in tents of fleshly bodies awaiting the day, when He will clothe us in incorruption
like an army in a foreign land

also, yeah, i think 2TM2,3 is great!
have you heard them sing the Shema?

firstfruits.

he says the husbandman must be first partaker of the fruits.
the gardener is the one who first handles the produce. even when it is a seed, and a sprout.
there are two levels of meaning to this idiom being used in this context - Timothy being the disciple founding the ministry proclaiming the gospel to these people is as the husbandman; foremost, Christ is the Husbandman of Timothy's heart ((v.7)). as Timothy is the one having charge of bringing the fruit of the gospel to these people, it is incumbent that Timothy should himself be strong in faith, sound in doctrine, and wise of heart. the fruit of the Spirit should foremost be in him as he teaches and gives it to others.

Verse 2 - 3 -4; Paul is instructing Timothy, who is called as an elder, to preach the gospel (Matt 28:19) to the "lost sheep" of the house of Israel (God's elect children [Matt 10:6] that includes people from every nation [Rev 5:9] ).

Verse 5; Striving lawfully is staying in the truths, of the gospel, that Paul has instructed. Matt 9:24 - 25, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Verse 6; Those that preach the word must first be born again, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and partakers of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).