Character Series: Committed to be Courageous

 

 

Character, a wise person once said, is what we do when no one is watching.  It is not the same as reputation–what other people think of us.  Character is not what we have done, but who we are.  

This past weekend I went and saw Courageous with my husband, step-mom, and dad.  First off, if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it.  It is a heart wrenching, tear-jerking, family oriented movie that will make you think about your character.  I would say the movie’s main target audience is men/fathers/or husbands, but the foundational character quality of courage can apply to all of us.

 Character is our world’s most pressing need, and courage is a good place to start.  How do you define courage?  The online dictionary defines courage this way:

1. The ability to do something that frightens one.
2. Strength in the face of pain or grief.

We see courage displayed in our media today that coincide with these definitions only when we see an extreme act of heroism: someone rescuing someone from a burning building, firefighters, police officers, the military, running a marathon even though it hurts…so many different examples.   But it takes a great deal of courage to face life’s ordinary, everyday challenges.  Every single day we make choices that show whether we are courageous or cowardly.  We choose between the right thing and the convenient thing, sticking to a conviction or caving in for the sake of comfort.  Everyday we face these decisions and often times forget that we even have to make them.  The Bible definitely has something to say about courage a few times.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

1 Chronicles 28:20 
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Matthew 10:26
Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

The latter verses don’t precisely say courage, but they talk about facing your fears.  People say that Christianity is for weak people, but it takes a great deal of old fashioned courage to be a Christian.  The Bible says that, to become a Christian, you have to own up to your sins before a holy God. No one likes to admit that they’ve hurt people, are selfish, have cheated, been greedy, gossiped, or was dishonest.  It makes people uncomfortable to tell your best friend those things.  Why would it be any easier to tell someone that you can’t see?  But too many people cave into their fears and say they can’t do it because it would be too humiliating, too hard, or they make excuses and say, “nobody’s perfect.”  In the movie Courageous, the rookie police officer portrayed this fearful person who made excuses for everything.  When the other men were talking about how important it was for them to have their fathers in their lives as kids and how it impacted their relationship with God, it was really hard for this young man to understand.  It turns out he was hiding something and was fearful of telling the truth. That is why he was so resistant to opening up to what the others had to say about the importance of fathers in their life and our Heavenly Father, God.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 “We walk by faith, not by sight.”  But following Jesus demands an enormous amount of courage.  Quite often the things we feel like we are called to do seem out of the ordinary, scary, and even silly.  Sometimes we just ignore those leadings and crawl back in a cave and just do what’s comfortable.  But it takes enormous courage to follow God’s leadings in the Christian life.

We use this courageous quality every day: Relationally, morally, financially, in school, and especially in sports.  When I used to run track, the 400 meter race scared me to pieces. I didn’t like the burning aching pain in my legs the last 100 meters down the home stretch.  Every time…I mean EVERY TIME, I was warming up I would think of excuses as to how I could get out of it.  I was afraid of pain, I was afraid of the race, I was afraid of a lot.  No matter my fear, I got into those blocks and the officiator said, “Runners to your mark…set..”…and the gun would go off and all of the fear went away.  Why?  Because you grow in courage when you face your crippling fears.

Courage–we all need it, and God wants us to have it.  He did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear) but a spirit of power. Courageous people are ordinary people like you and I.  They are the athletes on our campus who made a courageous decision to play college sports despite the physical challenges and time commitment.  They are the girls who asks to meet for coffee because she is struggling to make friends. They are the wives who effortlessly cooks, cleans, and keeps the home in order when she is trying to balance the ups and downs of a busy schedule.  They are the friends who graciously tell the truth because no one else will.  They are the young men who make a commitment to stay pure and respect women despite today’s culture.

Courageous people are all around us:  Ordinary people allowing God to do extraordinary things.

Time Out:

Who do you know that has shown courage and can help encourage you to face your fears?  Remember to surround yourself with good models.  The Bible says, “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Cor 15:33)

What area are you struggling with when it comes to being courageous?

In what ways can you make an effort to consciously allow your mind to be transformed and take courage?

 

Go and make a play ~