The funny thing about courage is that we really don’t know how much we possess until the moment we are asked to display it. We can all say that we would rescue the kid from the burning building, or we would stand firm against advancing evil, yet history is replete with people who thought the same yet failed to step up when the opportunity came. In our heads we suppose ourselves brave, but the ease with which we give in to temptation may reveal a different story.
The Christian, however, is exhorted to “always be of good courage” (2 Cor. 5:6,8). This may seem odd since it is unlikely that (from an Earthly perspective) we will be called upon for acts of bravery in the course of our everyday mundane lives. Yet, the Christian knows differently. Our entire lives are to be an act of fearless sacrifice – we are to daily give of ourselves for the good of others for the glory of God. This is what our Savior did; we are tasked with living likewise.
The reason we can do this? The basis for a life that is always of good courage? 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that too. We can be consistently brave, audaciously generous, and daringly forgiving, because we know the end of the story. We know that “while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” (v. 6) but one day, we will be with Him in Heaven. “We make it our aim to please Him” (v. 9) here on Earth, to live lives of perpetual courage, because one day we will “receive what is due…whether good or evil.” (v. 10). We can love boldly and sacrifice generously now because we know that there will be a day when any loss that is suffered, any grief that is sustained, will be made right by our gracious and giving King (see Mark 10:29-31; Rev. 31:4; Mt 16:25). We can always be of good courage now because we know that He is the One Who strengthens and sustains, and whatever we have to give up, for His Kingdom’s sake, will be worth it in the end.
