Courage

Courage, the ability to do something that may frighten you. What does courage mean to you? What does it look like in your everyday life? Do you even practice courage despite what may hold you back?

Courage looks different to every one of us. Courage can be saying something that many people may not agree with. It can look like making the conscious decision to follow Christ or it can be letting go of your hurt from a past relationship. Throughout this week the word courage rang nonstop in my ears. After some time I understood that would be the topic I wrote about this week. This makes sense since the act of coming back to my abandoned project even though I felt like a disappointment took courage.

All throughout our life, we are encouraged to do different tasks whether it be positive or negative. We are encouraged by our parents, peers, and teachers. You can be encouraged to take your first step, read a book, or get on a ride with friends. A lot of these things do take courage indeed, but I think an important aspect of courage that isn’t explained is the integrity aspect of it. The integrity to have the courage to do something for the benefit of yourself without the encouragement of others is sometimes a foreign topic. That’s why when it comes to college and being granted the independence to make decisions for ourselves, many people come to a struggling halt at whatever crossroad they may face. As a newly found adult, yet still a babe, how does one find the courage to make the right decision on their own when all their life they’ve been encouraged to make decisions by others.

In 2020, along with many other lessons the Lord taught us, I believe He brought light to the fact that many of us were still babes in Christ no matter the age. Our faith, obedience, trust, and courage was no greater than a child in Christ. So with the year of revelation passing away, the year of application must follow suit for the revelation to not be void. However, to apply and learn from the many lessons of 2020, courage must be our starting point of this new season. Whether it is the courage to have more faith in our Savior, the courage to love our neighbor, or maybe even the courage to patiently sit still while waiting for the Lord's direction; it all begins with courage.

Now how does this work? In His beautiful Word we are made to understand that “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV. So in order to combat the spirit of fear the Lord grants us the ability to access power, love, and a sound mind, or in other words self-control. In my understanding, these three things come together to grant us courage. Our gracious Father enabled His Spirit to dwell with His children on Earth to allow us to tap into the power we know not of without Him. This is reassuring because I promise you if it was up to me alone, I would not be here writing or even allowing myself to be used for His kingdom advancement. You see the Holy Spirit is our helper, and with His help, we can access power to do things that may try to frighten us. With the power of the Most High, we can conquer any obstacle that may try to stand in our way. Heavy on the try because once we understand that we serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords who created everything with just His breath, we understand that nothing can stand in the way of His plan to prosper us. I’m pretty sure His plans to prosper us will not be stopped by attempts of the enemy to cause us to be crippled by fear. There is power you are not accessing. There is might you are not accessing. There is authority you are not accessing. Let today be the day you are intentional about tapping into your birthright through your salvation.

Although our Father in Heaven knows no fear, I bet it took courage to create the Earth. Not because He feared the outcome, but because the All-Knowing Master knew the outcome. He knew that all through the first man and woman may have everything they could want, they would still be deceived into thinking they wanted more. He knew that although He sent His only begotten Son to Earth to die for our sins and grant us salvation, men and women of the Earth would rather frolic in the world. He knew that although His eternal hand will be stretched towards humanity ready to give them purpose and life, they would still turn their backs on Him. Our God knew all this, yet still dared to make this world, you and I. You see I think a secret ingredient to courage that isn’t spoken about is love. Makes sense since God’s essence is literally embedded into every aspect of the world and His essence is filled with love so of course, everything in the world requires love whether we like to acknowledge it or not. However, how does love equate to courage in our day to day life? I think it’s important to put it into perspective. Let’s say someone is afraid of heights, that someone may or may not be me. This person fears not being in control. With being in the air, you must relinquish your control because at that point whatever is causing you to take height now has control. So how can I use courage and love at this point? This person is telling themself that they love themself too much to potentially but themself in harm. This is where the shift in perspective comes in. What about thinking that the Lord loves you so much He will not put you in harm's way. Or challenging the thought that they love themself because if they truly loved themselves they would allow themself to enjoy the Earthly experiences the Lord granted them. Loving yourself also means not holding yourself back. Our actions to move in fear causes us to neglect the love God has for us and the love we have for ourselves. Understand God’s love for you. Every day you are alive is evidence of His love for you. Learn to love yourself enough to not let fear dictate your life. Allow love to be part of your driving force for using courage in your day to day life. Your courage to love your neighbor no matter the situation can save a soul. Your courage to love yourself can save your life from mediocrity. Your courage to accept God’s love can elevate your life beyond comprehension.

I don’t know about everyone else but when I am doing something that takes courage I literally begin to shake. However, His Spirit can work through our shakiness and produce a sound mind along the way. I like how in other versions of the Bible instead of sound mind, self-control is listed. To be able to control one's emotions, desires, and any spirit that is not from the Lord trying to hinder you is extremely important. Self-control means telling the spirit of fear it has no place in your life. Self-control means positioning yourself to tap into the power and love that can conquer fear. We are often told self-discipline is so important, but many of us lack it. With working on our discipline, courage is bound to be stamped on our character. Self-control is an understanding that although there is something I may not want to do, whatever I need to do is greater than my wants. That is so vital because self-control allows you to walk in your destiny because of your ability to discern what needs to be done.

This year we are individually being positioned to be elevated in some way. However, the spirit of fear can cause you to miss out on your blessing. This year be intentional about taking the courage to do both the little and big things. This year allow the courage to be obedient be your driving force. I know sometimes certain things may be scary but don’t forget that you serve a Champion who will see you through. Take your baby step today and work towards confronting whatever may cause you to fear. Remember the enemy tries to put fear in places where your victory lays. This year we will take our victory because of our ability to tap into power, love, and self-control also known as courage. Start your business, start your channel, start your ministry, open your mouth, extend your knowledge, start to live, and reflect God’s glory in everything you do.