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Becoming the Man God Wants You To Be #4, May 17, 2019: Courage

If I am to become the man God wants me to be, I must evidence courage in the face of challenges. The word courage, courageous, or courageously appears 26 times in the KJV of the Bible. In other translations the word may appear as many as 116 times. There are many ways that we must be strong and courageous, but I would like for you to consider three: courage to confront, courage to change, and courage to say no.

In the King James Version the word “courage” appears in the following (20) passages:

Numbers 13:20 – And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 31:7 – And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Deuteronomy 31:23 – And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

Joshua 1:6 – Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Joshua1:9 – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:18 – Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

Joshua 2:11 – And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Joshua 10:25 – And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

2 Samuel10:12 – Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.

1Chronicles 19:13 – Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.

1Chronicles 22:13 – Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

1Chronicles 28:20 – And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles – 15:8 – And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

Ezra 10:4 – Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

Psalm 27:14 – Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalm 31:24 – Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Isiah 41:6 – hey helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

Daniel 11:25 – And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.

Acts 28:15 – And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

In the King James Version the word “courageous” appears in the following (5) passages:

Joshua 1:7 – Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.

Joshua 23:6 – Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

2 Samuel 13:28 – Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

2 Chronicles 32:7 – Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

Amos 2:16 – And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.

In the King James Version the word “courageously” appears in the following (1) passage:

2 Chronicles 19:11 – And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

The Courage to Confront

Confrontation is hardly ever pleasant, but the Scriptures teach that, if we encounter someone who is in danger, we will warn them of that danger.  We are instructed, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important” (Galatians 6:1-3, NLT). And in another passage, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-21, NKJV).

In the Old Testament the watchman was charged with the responsibility to watch for any approaching enemy. If one was observed he was to sound warning so that precautions could be taken to defend the city. Notice how his responsibility is described in Ezek. 33:1-6, “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

Sometimes our attempts, to confront one in love to turn from their sins, are met with resistance or outright hostility. The Scriptures provide the example for further discipline if this occurs (See Matthew 18:15-17). In such situations, truly courage must be manifested in order to do what is right.

The Courage to Change

The humility to change, when sin is evident in our lives, requires courage. The determination to change, when our behavior is harming others, requires courage. The sincerity of heart to change when we are bringing reproach upon our physical and spiritual family requires courage.

The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr captures the essence of this courage to change (emphasis by underlining and highlighting added by me):

Prayer for Serenity

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

taking, as Jesus did,

this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it;

trusting that You will make all things right

if I surrender to Your will;

so that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

The Courage to Say No

It requires courage to say no when you are asked to serve in some way, but you know that “your plate is full” and that you cannot give any additional task the justice it deserves. Saying no in a conflict situation when you are a “conflict avoider” requires courage. And saying no to not enable inappropriate behavior of one you love takes a great deal of courage.

Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend have a great deal to say about saying no in their book Boundaries:

“Made in the image of God, we were created to take responsibility for certain tasks. Part of taking responsibility, or ownership, is knowing what our job is and what it isn’t. Any confusion of responsibility and ownership in our lives is a problem of boundaries. Just as  homeowners set physical property lines around their land, we need to set mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries for our lives to help us distinguish what is our responsibility and what isn’t” (pp.24-25).

“Some people become so accustomed to others rescuing them that they begin to believe that their well-being is someone else’s problem” (119).

“Dysfunctional families are known for a certain type of boundary problem called ‘triangulation.’ Triangulation is the failure to resolve a conflict between two persons and the pulling in of a third to take sides. This is a boundary problem because the third person has no business in the conflict but is used for comfort and validation by the ones who are afraid to confront each other” (p. 129).

“Teens need to be setting their own relational, scheduling, values, and money boundaries as much as possible. And they should suffer real-life consequences when they cross their boundaries. The seventeen-year-old who still needs to be disciplined with social media and phone restrictions may have real problem at college in one year. Professors, deans, and residence hall assistants don’t impose these kinds of restrictions; they resort to tactics such as failing grades, suspension, and expulsion…. When their ability to say and hear no is deficient, clarifying house rules and consequences can often help in the last few years before the youth leave home. Symptoms such as the following, however, may indicate a more serious problem:

  • Isolation of the teen from family members
  • Depressed mood
  • Rebellious behavior
  • Continual conflict in family
  • Wrong type of friends
  • School problems
  • Eating disorders
  • Alcohol use
  • Drug use
  • Suicidal ideas or behavior

Many parents, observing these problems, react with either too many boundaries or too few. The too-strict parent runs the risk of alienating the almost-adult from the home connection. The too-lenient parent wants to be the child’s best friend at a time the teen needs someone to respect. At this point, parents should consider consulting a therapist who understands teen issues. The stakes are simply too high to ignore professional help” (p.192)

Truths About Courage

Leadership guru John Maxwell says, “As you approach the tough decisions that challenge you, recognize these truths about courage:

  1. Courage Begins with an Inward Battle
  2. Courage Is Making Things Right, Not Just Smoothing Them Over
  3. Courage in a Leader Inspires Commitment from Followers
  4. Your Life Expands in Proportion to Your Courage

(The 21 Indispensable Qualities Of A Leader, John C. Maxwell, pp. 40-41)

Conclusion

Much more could be said about the attribute of courage that we need to possess as we seek to become the men that God wants us to be. But I hope these words have been thought-provoking and that, in some small way, they may help you with your Christian walk. For that is the purpose of this website.

Thanks for reading …

Randy