Who, me?#11. “A Coward?”

I can only pray that I would be brave in the face of a deadly enemy. I cringe at the stories of WWI soldiers being shot in the back by their own officers while running from the enemy. That could have been me.

Its easy to talk about a brave story, but when a situation calls for courage, it is then that we prove the strength of that which resides within.

Scripture tells us to “be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).

The Christian armours up for the spiritual war that rages within and without. So, if anyone converts a sinner to the pleasantries of church life alone, he is setting them up for a fall. The cost of Christian discipleship is extreme; it’s life for life..!

“Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

Those who do not accept the cost of discipleship will never see the need for an ever-strengthening faith. One that says, “Amen!” when Peter says: “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:16).

God promises us that no temptation will ever exceed our ability to endure it. Thus, there is no excuse for spiritual cowardice—Jesus is always there to make us stand (1 Corinthians 10:13).

By prayer and practice, we work to surrender our fears to faith. We resolve to face the devil and his demons as they seek to make us denounce our faith.

Cowards, we are not!

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

John Staiger