I Corinthians 16: 13-14 “Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”   The two most important character traits for a man to be a man or to be a leader are integrity and courage.  This week, I want to look more closely at courage for one primary reason.  If a man does not have strength of character and courage, he will not uphold his integrity. Our integrity is who we are in Christ who makes us whole.  Courage means to be alert and on guard and to stand firm in our faith; to be strong enough to not compromise and to make Godly decisions.  This means to take a stand for what is right and to not yield to our culture and political correctness.  You will often have to stand alone and not fear what others may say.  Our obedience is to honor God, not fear the world.  John Wayne said it well, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”   It is your responsibility to live a life of courage and to strongly stand on God’s truths, no matter the opposition.

God told both Moses and Joshua to not fear but to be strong and courageous.  It was so important for leading people (Children of Israel) that God told Joshua some four times in the first chapter of Joshua to be strong and courageous and to “fear not” or be afraid.  He promised to go before them and never leave or forsake them.  “Fear not” is used some 366 times in Scripture and is the most common command in the Bible.  Since this is true, I believe we should take note and live it out in our lives as men and leaders. The lack of this character trait is one of the main reasons that our nation is in such a conflict today.  If we don’t stand for truth, we will fall for anything.  There are two important words associated with courage.  One is discourage which means to “take away courage.”  The other is encourage which means “to put courage in.”  Real men and real leaders understand the difference and importance and encourage those whom they lead at work and home to be on their guard, stand firm in the faith, be strong in character and do all in love.