What is Courage?

“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions”.   Prov. 28:1 NLT

The dictionary defines courage as: “The ability to face and deal with a dangerous or difficult situation”.   

There are two parts in this definition----first…… to face and then to deal with…

It is interesting to read modern day writers on the subject of courage because they give you some interesting definitions.   For instance, Gen. George Patten defines it this way: “Courage is fear that holds on for one more minute.”

Captain A. Riddenbacher states it as: “Courage is doing what you are afraid to do.  Where there is no fear, there is not courage”.

Think about the definitions.   It is the ability to face and deal with a dangerous or difficult situation.

How much courage do you have?

Would your friends call you a courageous person?

Most of the popular images of courage have to do with men and women fighting on a battlefield.

I do not deny in the least of those things are part of what courage is all about; however, if that is all that courage means, most of us are left out because most of us will not ever literally be on a battlefield.

To me courage is made up of four elements:

Bravery in the face of danger.         “I will NOT be afraid”.

Steadfastness in the face of opposition.      “I will NOT give up”.

Action in the face of resistance.          “I will NOT be intimidated”.

Optimism in the face of despair.            “I will NOT lose heart”.

 “I have given you the power to trample on snakes and scorpions and to defeat the power of your enemy Satan. Nothing can harm you”.    Luke 10:19 CEV