Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;
According to the will of God ... Peter had just spoken of them as "partakers of Christ's sufferings"  (1 Peter 4:13), and this clause shows that all Christians, elders included, are called to suffer for the cause of the Lord.  As Paul put it, "If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him"  (2 Timothy 2:12).  Many Christians fail because they do not properly discern the nature of the life to which they are committed.  It is not one unending "high," comparable to a stroll along some flower-lined pathway to the accompaniment of sweet music.  It is a fight  (2 Timothy 4:7); it is like being a soldier  (2 Timothy 2:4), subject to disagreeable and difficult assignments; it is like training for an athletic contest  (2 Timothy 2:5), involving all kinds of austerity, self-discipline and hard work; it is called "taking up one's cross"  (Matthew 16:24), etc.