I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the race. In his farewell message to Timothy and the Ephesian community, Paul, drawing from his own life experience, leaves us with an apt description of what discipleship is all about. He calls it a race, a competition. It is a race because there is a prize to be attained at the end: the crown of righteousness. It is a competition, not because one wants to beat those which he/she is in the race (in this case fellow baptized), but rather because only those who arrive at the finish line are counted winners. Being a race, exhaustion and temptation to drop out remain possibilities. Paul definitely encountered these: “three times I was beaten, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the cold…” (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:25). As such, just like in any other race/competition, discipline and perseverance are the key to arriving at the finish line. Paul reminds Timothy and his community that perseverance is possible: “Though I have undergone sufferings to the point of being chained like a criminal, I have persevered and kept the faith…” (cf. 2 Timothy 2:9-10, 4:7c). 
Winners in this race of discipleship are those who have kept the faith, for it is by this that one can successfully compete and win the race. By keeping the faith is meant, not locking it in a safe place, but rather living it out. The faith is kept by performing the work of an evangelist:  proclaiming the word, reprimanding the erring, encouraging in patience the flagging, and teaching sound doctrine. This is what Paul did, giving him the courage to say that he has competed well and won the race. May we too, like him, compete well in order to ultimately win the prize that awaits us in heaven.