How Your Courage and Character Grow
By Rick Warren
“Never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord . . . With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News” (2 Timothy 1:8 NLT).
Standing up for God when you’re afraid isn’t just the right thing to do.
It also builds your faith and your character.
Reputation is what you want people to think you are. Character is what you really are. Character is who you are when no one is watching.
Character and faith are like muscles. The only way you build a muscle is by stressing it. That’s what we do in weightlifting. When you lift weights, you’re straining your muscle, you’re stretching your muscle, and you’re stressing your muscle. Your muscle doesn’t grow unless it’s strained, stretched, and stressed.
The same is true with your “courage muscle.”
You’re not developing any spiritual, emotional, or relational muscle when you give in to fear instead of standing up to it. When you play it safe, and let fear win, you lose the courage to follow God’s will for your life.
When you stand strong for what God wants instead of buckling to fear, your courage grows.
Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving forward with what God wants anyway.
The Bible says, “Never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord . . . With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News” (2 Timothy 1:8 NLT).
What are you willing to do in order to be true to your faith? Are you willing to be teased? Are you willing to have someone look at you funny? Are you willing to have people gossip about you?
Historically, Christians have gone before lions and been crucified for their faith in Christ. Even today, people are being martyred for their faith. It’s much more common than you may realize.
Stand up for God. When you overcome your fears, your character grows, and your faith does too.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
When have others encouraged you by standing strong for their faith in Christ?
How have you seen your character grow by standing up for God’s ways?
As Pastor Rick asked in the devotional, what are you willing to do in order to be true to your faith?
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Unshakeable! Study Kit
You Can Thrive In Every Circumstance
Do you want to thrive in every circumstance? In the Bible, Daniel and his friends rose to top positions of leadership because they were unshakeable in their faith even though they were surrounded by a corrupt culture. Today, the world’s value system increasingly drifts further from God. To thrive, no matter what, you need to dive into scripture and learn how to be unshakeable in your faith.
In the 9-part DVD study kit, Unshakable: Thriving No Matter What Hits You, Pastor Rick helps you walk through scripture and learn how to …
• Stand strong when your world is shaken
• Stay firm when your pressured to conform
• Be bold when your beliefs are belittled
• Be confident when you’re asked to do the impossible
• Stay cool when the heat is on
The Unshakable study kit is our way to thank you for your gift below to help take Daily Hope to more people – so request yours when you give. And thanks for your partnership!
This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.