2 Timothy 2:5

5 And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.

2 Timothy 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Timothy 2:5

And if a man also strive for masteries
In the Olympic games, by running, wrestling, leaping

yet is he not crowned;
with a corruptible, fading crown, a crown made of herbs and leaves of trees, as parsley, laurel

except he strive lawfully;
according to the laws and rules fixed for those exercises; so no man that calls himself a Christian, minister, or any other, can expect the crown of life, the prize of the high calling of God, except he runs the race set before him, in the right way; looking to Christ, the mark, pressing through all difficulties, towards the prize, and holds on and out unto the end.

2 Timothy 2:5 In-Context

3 Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus.

4 A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

5 And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.

6 It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.

7 Give thought to what I say; for the Lord will give you wisdom in all things.