“Be of Good Courage” — Psalm 27:14
Photo Credit: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Daniel in the Lion’s Den; National Gallery of Art; image from Wikimedia Commons.
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Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! — Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)
Everyone wants to be known as a courageous person; no one wants to be labeled a coward. Yet, from where does courage originate and what is the difference between godly and ungodly courage?
Courage counts the cost, no matter how high, and still bravely goes forward.
Godly courage comes from deep convictions, which compel us to stand for truth, place ourselves in harm’s way to save the vulnerable, and refuse to acquiesce to something that goes against our conscience. Godly courage counts the cost, no matter how high, and still bravely goes forward, because it’s the right thing to do.
But what if our convictions aren’t right? History is filled with atrocities—the Holocaust, the Holodomor, the Killing Fields, Stalin’s Purges, and the Armenian and Rwandan genocides are just some of the horrible crimes committed against humanity in the last one hundred years alone. The people who committed these terrible acts had convictions that were based not on anything good but instead on horrendous, unspeakable evil. Their self-idolizing, depraved principles produced a twisted kind of courage that tortured and destroyed countless millions of people instead of protecting and caring for them. Ungodly courage is aligned with Satan’s schemes to overthrow God’s rule, whereas godly courage brings glorify to God.
Godly courage is always good courage.
In order to use our courage wisely, we need to be sure that our convictions are based on all that is good, and we find true and perfect goodness in God alone. Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Hannah, David, Abigail, Daniel, Mary, Peter, and Paul are just some examples of godly men and women in the Bible who displayed good courage in the face of trials and tribulation.
The more we immerse ourselves in Scripture and seek to image God in his goodness, love, righteousness, justice, mercy, and holiness in our own thoughts and actions, the more we will exercise good courage. To produce good courage, we must be careful to approach God’s word with the willingness to learn what God is communicating to us, never trying to twist God’s word to conform to our fleshly, sinful desires. Building our convictions on a sound biblical foundation prevents our courage from becoming misdirected, sinful, and destructive.
As Christians we are called to image our Savior and courageously stand for all that is good, true, and beautiful.
Christ Jesus our Savior is our ultimate example of how true and pure courage is lived out: Jesus bravely went to the cross, even though he knew how greatly he would suffer. Because his convictions were perfectly good, holy, and loving, Jesus never strayed from his course:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matt. 16:21)
Christ not only faced the greatest of evil, the persecution of God incarnate by his own creation, but he also conquered it by his perfect obedience and sacrifice. Because of Jesus’ faithfulness we can rejoice, for sin, death, and the devil won’t have the last word. God will!
As Christians we are called to stand resolutely for all that is good, true, and beautiful. Good courage comes from God alone, and it matures in us as the truth of God’s word fills our hearts with love for God and our neighbor. No matter what troubles we are facing in this world, may we respond with courage that is grounded in godly convictions, always remembering that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
This article is adapted from “Good Courage” in Beautiful Christian Life’s February 2022 monthly newsletter, “Courage.”
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Le Ann Trees is a writer, editor, speaker, wife, mom, and grandma. She is the former managing editor of White Horse Inn’s Core Christianity website and Bible studies and the former dean of women for Westminster Seminary California from where she also earned a Master of Arts in Theological Studies in 2014. Le Ann is managing editor of Beautiful Christian Life.
