Richard Wolff gives us a very meaningful definition of courage. To him courage means that “a man is not divided, or in doubt; he does not stand in his own way; he is not consumed by self-contradiction, nor does he deceive himself. He affirms himself and does not give up. It is different with the man whose heart fails him, who capitulates before difficulties, who is discouraged by them and is therefore his own betrayer and gives up. “ Courage is the willingness to push on even in the midst of fear, and it is living according to one’s conviction.
Courage is necessary for a leader to stand by his conviction and be persistent. Men and women of leadership in the Bible always demonstrated the quality of courage. Ted W. Engstrom says, “Courage is the desire to begin, and persistence is the desire to continue.” A major reason why people lack courage is their fear of failure. Remember the words of Winston Churchill, “Failure is not fatal,” and as Roger Von Ouch States, “There are two benefits for failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work, and second, the failure gives you an opportunity to try a new approach.” Therefore, failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. “Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead-end street. “ Richard Wolff’s statement comes to mind again, “At times it is not easy to evaluate success and failure. Often it appeared that Paul had setback upon setback. Nevertheless, he finally reached Rome which had been one of his long-range goals, and in this light Paul was eminently successful.”
May I quote the words of Winston Churchill once again, “Success is never final; failure is not fatal; it is courage that counts. “ Courage is necessary to overcome the anguish, the loneliness, perhaps the ridicule and rejection.
Rosa Parks, mother of the Civil Rights movement, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give her bus seat to a white man. Boycotts and protests followed, and eventually the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation unconstitutional. She writes, “I have learned over the years that knowing what must be done does away with fear. When I sat down on the bus that day, I had no idea history was being made. I was only thinking of getting home. But I have made up my mind. After so many years of being a victim of the mistreatment my people suffered, not giving up my seat and whatever I would have to face afterwards was not important. I did not feel any fear sitting there. I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. It was time for someone to stand up or in my case, sit down. So I refused to move.” Settle in your mind what is right and you will find courage in your heart.
The Scripture says, “Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be courageous, be strong, do everything in love” (1 Cor. 16:13). Also remember, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7).
