Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. – Aristotle

What do you think of Aristotle’s statement? Would you place as much value on courage? I think I agree with Aristotle because when I think of those who have accomplish much in life, courage played a significant role in their accomplishments.

Joshua faced a formidable challenge. Not only was he to lead the nation of Israel into the land of promise, he had to follow Moses who had led the people out of slavery. So God encouraged him to “be strong and courageous.”

When the leader of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, stood before those who demanded he withdraw his belief in the authority of Scripture he said, “Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear and distinct grounds and reasoning—and my conscience is captive to the Word of. God—then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other.  So help me God.”

I think of the young Jim Elliot who was later killed as a missionary in Ecuador who said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Mark Twain once said that “courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”  Each of the people listed above avoided the fear that paralyzes and their lives changed the lives of others.

We may not affect as many lives, but if we sit on the sidelines, nothing will be accomplished. Let’s get in the game.