Real guts!

Men were standing around the room after an event, talking. A commotion caught my attention, just in time to see two grown men one near 40, the other 10 years younger, grab each other in what looked like a desperate confrontation! Seconds later they were on the floor. Grunting with exertion they rolled under a table, tipping it over as they wrestled. They mixed it up, testing each other’s strength for about a minute, then they got up, smoothed their clothes and shook hands. One had blood coming from his nose, the other from his lip. And, they were laughing! “A friendly fight” they called it! They weren’t angry, just men acting like boys. I’ve never been one of those men who liked to fight for the fun of it.

For me, a real demonstration of strength involves integrity, doing the right thing even when it’s hard, making the right choice when fatigued or pressed. I am not all that impressed with the displays of testosterone that are offered up as a show of courage!
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ demands real guts! The world around us, the sinful nature in us, and the devil who opposes God and good will ‘bring it on’ from time to time. Sometimes our Adversary shows up as that ‘roaring lion’ and plants himself in our path. “You’ll fail. You’re weak,” he roars. Sometimes we just start to look around at others and we feel the pressure to cave in, to adopt their way of life, to work for those things that would make us successful by societal measures. And, worst of all, are those temptations that arise from our inner thoughts, that find a root in our fears, that poke at our most vulnerable spots.

Joshua’s charge to ancient Israel is one we need to hear. “Be very strong; be careful to obey all … without turning aside to the right or to the left. … But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.” Joshua 23:6 (NIV) To state the obvious- one does not need to be heavily muscled, male, young, or an athlete to take up that charge. We will need courage, however. What passes for Christianity is often an ‘all you need is love,’ emotion-centered experience. Jesus Christ is given a feminine likeness. We unconsciously start to think of Him rather like our grandma who cajoled us with sweet words. Truth is that He is Lord, strong and mighty, who says unapologetically, “Take up your cross and follow Me!” I hear those words not in the wheedling tones of a Mommy speaking to a toddler, but in the command voice of a man leading a squad of soldiers!

Here’s a word from the Word that challenges us to a robust faith, full of courage. Meditate on it. "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. … Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 2:1,3, NIV) Do you see the Source of our true strength? It is not our personality, our education, our innate intelligence, or our muscle! We are made strong by an infusion of Divine Goodness bought for us and made available to us by Jesus. It’s time to say, “I can stand because He gives me real guts. I can face the Devil and move forward to defeat him. I can resist pressure to conform to the norms of my world because He leads me along a different path. I will be courageous enough even to deal with my own weakness with discipline!”
"So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, NLT)

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