You must fight in order to reign

The crown is not for the well-groomed but the faithful

Trust Maanda
Looking at the Unseen
2 TIMOTHY 2:12: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
I read a story recently of Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus had won a great battle. Victory banners hung in the streets. The people lined the roads for a celebration. And Caesar made a request that silenced the camp: “I want some worthy man to ride by my side. I want someone to share these blessings with me.”
Every officer ran to his tent. Plumes were trimmed. Armour was polished until it could blind you. Swords were shined. They practiced the perfect salute, the perfect posture. One by one they marched before the throne — impressive, clean, rehearsed.
Caesar watched each one. And Caesar shook his head. No.
Then at the end of the line came a footman. No plume.
No shield to polish. No perfect salute. He just bowed his head and started to walk away.
“Wait,” Caesar said. “Who are you?”
The man turned. His face was cut. His body was scarred. He was limping.
“Where did you get those scars?”
“Out in the battle, fighting for my lord, Caesar.” Caesar’s answer was instant: “Climb up here and sit by my side. You are the one that has been tested and proved.”
It was not plume-trimming time.
The story summarises what is required for a Christian to reign.
God is doing the same thing today. He is looking for men and women who will reign with Him — and reigning comes through fighting. The Bible never promises the throne without the battle. In order to reign, you must fight.
Revelation 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Jesus didn’t get to the throne without Calvary. And He’s not calling us to a crown without a cross.”
The Scripture means we must endure and overcome in order for us to reign. Christianity is not a picnic. It is a battle. You fight against your own flesh, those that are outward in inward. You battle wrong thoughts and bad habits. You keep yourself in check.
Romans 8:17: “Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
The crown is for overcomers. All the officers in Caesar’s camp looked ready for the parade, but they had not been in the battle. We do the same thing in the church. We trim plumes. We learn the right phrases.
We build the platform. We practice the salute. And those things aren’t evil. But God isn’t hiring performers for His throne room. He’s looking for witnesses.
James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
God allows fire not to destroy us, but to reveal what is real. The footman’s scars were his resume. They proved three things: He stayed in the fight. He didn’t desert his king. He paid a price for victory.
The type of battle is in Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers.”
Paul bore the scars of the Gospel in his body. Galatians 6:17: “Let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
Paul was talking about persecution. The marks we bear for Jesus become our testimony. Jesus Himself reigns with scars.
John 20:27: “Behold my hands and my feet.” The King of Glory has nail prints. He is not ashamed of wounds. He is forming a people who look like Him.
Luke 22:28-29: “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.”
Notice the qualification: “continued with me in my temptations.” Not “preached the best.” Not “had the biggest ministry.” Continued. Stayed. Endured.
The parade is coming. Revelation 19:14: “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses.”
Revelation 20:4: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them… and they lived and reigned with Christ.”
Don’t run from the trial. Don’t quit in the middle of the battle. Fight.
One day Jesus will look across His Kingdom, and say what Caesar said: “Come up here. Sit by My side.”
And when He asks: “Where did you get those scars?”
You will answer like the footman: “Out in the battle, fighting for my Lord.”
And He will say: “You are the one that has been tested and proved.”
That is what it means to fight in order to reign with God, our King. The crown is not for the well-groomed. It is for the faithful.
Not for the ones who looked good in the camp, but for the ones who bled in the battle.