The Meaning of Biblical Courage

“Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s doing the right thing even when you’re afraid.” ~ Michael Purath

My husband and I were discussing courage when he offered this excellent explanation. I later discovered a similar “cowboy version” by John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death … and saddling up anyway.”

At first I thought “scared to death” went beyond godly fear until I read 2 Corinthians 1:8, where Paul says, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.”

 
Then comes verse 9, the most important part:
“Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

 

Fear can have a protective purpose, warning us of danger. But it will lead us down unhealthy paths if we don't take it to the Lord for comfort and guidance.

The book of Psalms offers hundreds of examples where the psalmists come to God to unload their fears and reload their faith. (See Unloading and Reloading.)

A common fear in our present age is fear to speak God’s truth boldly, knowing we may be hated for doing so. So, as Paul explained, let’s remember not to rely on ourselves but to put our trust in God. (See Truth with Love, Love with Truth.)

Courage is doing the right thing even when we're afraid. So, let's “saddle up” and speak truth.

 

If you want help in identifying false teachings and speaking truth, I encourage you to check out the book Lies In Disguise. It's packed with Scripture, and it addresses many of the false teachings that have crept into the church. 

 

I hope you will read this post about Halloween – Halloween: Pagan Celebration or Childlike Fun? 

 

 

BLN