The army life...

Hello... its VaZe here bringing you some teachings from army....
Yes... I promised that i'll cut on army talk outside camp, but i feel that this is some basic fundamental principles that i want to bring across to everybody...

My life in army is very relaxing physically, but still challenging mentally as...
I have to live with all the:
- people who uses vulgarities like punctuation marks
- regimentation -> no moving around the camp, change into all sorts of attire, etc...
- platoon mates who are not happy over every minor issues (bread & butter issues)

You see, when u start to live with 50 other men on the same level, 50 different personalities, 50 different expectations, there bound to be disagreements and conflicts... One guy not happy with another guy for telling him to march properly, a group of people outcast 1 person as the person is not doing his duty well...

For me? I believe that army is my paradise... Not in the sense that i'm a glutton for punishment, but that its a good training ground to build some character, build some life prinicples...

When i first stepped into Tekong, i asked myself what do i want to see myself doing here... and i set only 1 boundary for myself:
- No vulgarities

Eventually, as time passes, i began to add more prinicples to my army life as i read the Word of God daily:

- No reading of FHM, Maxim or similar materials to set a good example as a Christian as well as to stop all the lust of the flesh

-No Chao Keng as God reminded us in 2 Timothy 2:3-6 that as soldiers of God, we endure all hardships and please our commanding officers

- No complaining and murmur about my duties, be it guard duty or confinement, as in 2 Cor 11:23-29, Paul says that he face pressure everyday, yet he boast of his sufferings, not complain about his sufferings...

- Humility -> I learn to take humble pie in all circumstances, lower my expectations on people when they work with me... Not to boast of my achievments, give a listening ear to the people around me, help resolve misunderstandings, go an extra mile to help my section mates, watch my tone when I speak so as not to provoke people, encourage my platoon mates to get things done...

- Excellence - As toilet I/C, i always report to the tolilet the earliest, and leave the toilet the last during cleaning... I have to do most of the dirtiest things, remove chokes in toliet bowls, scrunbbing the corners of the toliet walls... I have to even do my duty even when i'm not feeling well so that all the other cleaners are motivated to do as well...

- Discipline -> I learn how to discipline myself to do quiet time, read Godly books when other people are sleeping on their beds to have an early rest

After applying so many prinicples in my army life... People began to look to me one way or another... Platoon mates who has no one to confide in about their family or girlfriend problems come to me to talk... People invited me to do bible study with them, invited for prayer meeting, people are glad to work with me, even for guard duty...

On my part, I managed to share the gospel with my section mates, encourage one of my section mate with bible verses as he cannot seem to shoot accurately and is depressed... I encourage some of my platoon mates to stay positive during confinement, resolve some tensions between my platoon mates... I loan my bible, Christian books to people to read...

In short... what i want to say is that the Word of God should turn into active living prinicples that u anchor on everyday of your life... Then as you apply these prinicples, u see urself growing more, u see urself able to manage all the challenges with great ease...

Ending verse: 1 Cor 15:58 - Therefore stand firm my brothers, let nothing move you, for your labour in the Lord is never in vain