The world around us is harsh and overtaken by sin.  As a result, we face being ridiculed and rudely treated by the world.  We face being cursed, questioned, and abused by the people of this world.  This should not surprise us, seeing that the scriptures warn us about how the world would feel about us.

1 John 3:12–13 (ESV)
¹² We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.  ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Still, we must continue to strive for the faith and refuse to be frightened by our opponents.  One thing that is imperative as Christians is that we possess a spirit of courage.  We might be scared sometimes, but we still must be courageous.  Someone said, “Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”  John Wayne once said the same thing but put it in his unique way: “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”  Even Paul was scared sometimes, but he did not allow that fear to paralyze him.

1 Corinthians 2:3–4 (ESV)
³ And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

Many times fear stops us from doing what God wants us to do.  There is no question that in real life fear can cause us to freeze up.

“During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. “You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?”  “Who said that?” roared Khrushchev.  An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, “Now you know why” (Today in the Word, July 13, 1993).

Fear can cause us to remain silent when we ought to speak out, be still when we ought to move or remain idle when we ought to be active.  Let us never allow fear to stop us from being faithful to God.  Instead, let us follow in the steps of those who have demonstrated remarkable courage in the past, and stand up for Jesus in the face of adversity.  Here is an example of the kind of courage we should have:

“At about the turn of the fifth century, the great Coliseum of Rome was often overflowing with spectators who had come to view the state games. During one of the great festivals of Rome, a little Syrian monk by the name of Telemachus followed the crowd surging down the streets into the Coliseum.   He saw the gladiators stand before the emperor and say, ‘We who are about to die salute you.’ Then he realized these men were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowd. He cried out, ‘In the name of Christ, stop!’  As the games began, he pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the wall, and dropped to the floor of the arena. When the crowd saw this tiny figure rushing to the gladiators and saying, ‘In the name of Christ, stop!’ they thought it was part of the show and began laughing.  When they realized it wasn’t, the laughter turned to anger. As he was pleading with the gladiators to stop, one of them plunged a sword into his body. He fell to the sand.  As he was dying, his last words were, ‘In the name of Christ, stop!’” (750 Engaging Illustrations).

Do we have the courage to tell people living in sin, pushing and promoting homosexuality, or endorsing the ungodly practice of abortion, “In the name of Christ, stop!”  Do we have the courage to be a shining light in a world of darkness (Matthew 5:14-16)?  God does not need us; we need Him.  His plan, however, is to work through us; thus, if we do not have the courage to be used, we are in His way.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.