The world around us is harsh and overtaken by sin. As a result, we face being ridiculed and rude-ly treated. We face being cursed, questioned, abused, and misused by the people of this world. Still, we must continue to strive for the faith and refuse to be frightened by our opponents. If we are to be faithful Christians in this world today, one thing that is imperative is that we must possess courage. In this world where so many people are opposed to the righteous ways of God, too many of us are afraid to stand up for what is right.

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 he 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). Let us not allow the fear of man to stop us from doing what God wants us to do. If we do, we could be risking the salvation of our souls (Revelation 21:8), and that is far worse than anything that man can do to us physically.

Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Fear can cause us to remain silent when we ought to speak, remain still when we ought to move, or remain idle when we ought to be active. Instead of allowing fear to paralyze us, let us deter-mine to follow in the steps of those who have demonstrated remarkable courage in the past and stood up for Jesus in the face of great adversity.

“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!’”

Do we have the courage to tell people living in darkness, “In the name of Christ, stop?” Do we have the courage to tell people who are pushing and promoting homosexuality, “In the name of Christ, stop?” Do we have the courage to tell people who are endorsing the ungodly practice of abortion, “In the name of Christ, stop?” Do we have the courage to be faithful to God no matter what man might think, say, or do? One of the things that made Paul a great Christian was his uncompromising courage (Philippians 1:20).

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