Courage is not being the first to comment, and the last one to leave a Facebook fight (round about 1am). Courage isn’t talking louder than everyone else. It isn’t the mere presence of adrenaline in the midst of a tense situation. Courage has many counterfeits, while cowardice often wears a bold face.
The coward masks his spinelessness with all assortment of props. Protein shakes & workouts. Or an arsenal of guns & ammo. Or an airbrushed Instagram profile with perfect furniture, perfect clothes, perfect food, perfect family, perfect face. But when push comes to shove, the coward’s props all topple over with him.
Scripture defines courage, very simply, as standing strong. This begins in the inner man; but true courage is too big a thing to stay in the heart, it manifests in our actions. To stand fast when everyone else is fleeing takes firmness of will, confidence regardless of circumstance, and determination to remain in the place which you’ve been assigned.
It takes courage for a couple in the midst of a marital rough patch to remain faithful to their vows. It takes courage to not capitulate when a rebellious teenager is trying to exploit loopholes in your household rules. It takes courage for a citizen to swim against the current flowing quickly to national destruction.
So, do you cover your cowardice with all variety of props? Or do you stand firm? When you give in to temptation, you prove (despite all your props) that you’re a coward. But, if you would be a man or woman of courage, you must remain steadfast in obedience to God’s word, with a godly immovability. Some may call it stubbornness, but if you are standing in the spot God assigned you to stand, it goes by another name: courageous obedience.
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