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Physical bravery one type of courage
We often think of courage in terms of physical acts of bravery, charging the battlefields, working the front lines, and those moments in which we jump into action to rescue someone from a life or death situation. And certainly these are courageous moments to be honored in their own right.
To live unapologetic as men of faith
But this understanding can tempt us also to hide and miss the ways in which courage is needed to simply show up and unapologetically be the man that God has called us to be in our everyday lives.
Courageous faith
Like Daniel, it takes courage to go against this. status quo and remain faithful to God even when it’s not popular to do so and even when it cost us our livelihood and maybe even our very lives. Like the early Apostles, it takes courage to speak up and stand on God’s truth when it would be much easier to simply remain quiet and just go with the flow. And like the Apostle Paul it takes courage to admit when we might be wrong, and to once again to to realign ourselves with God’s truth rather than just blindly conforming to the traditions of our family friends and community.
Lack of courage brings harm
This is a courage that depends on our inner strength and faith. And so we might not lose our physical life, we do risk the identity, the status, the connection that we have with others. And when we play it safe we not only jeopardize our own soul, but we also jeopardize our ability to bring more life and goodness into the world. Much of the darkness and brokenness that we see around us can be traced back to a lack of this daily courage from the men of God.
And so while we need the courage to engage in those physical acts of bravery, we also need the courage and willingness to fight for all that is true, good, and beautiful throughout our life and relationships.
