Virtues ~n~ Vices :: COURAGE – Reaching Hurting Women Ministries

Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. ~ Maya Angelou

Virtue: a valued principle of good moral behavior; a holy habit.

Vice: a practice of wrongdoing, essentially corruption of the virtue; unholy habit.

Courage: the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation in spite of fear; choosing the morally difficult right over the easier wrong.
Cowardice: the inability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation;
choosing the easy way out.

Like many of you, I grew up with the lion in The Wizard of Oz as an example of courage and cowardliness. When Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man meet the lion he acts like a bully. He thinks by being rough and tough he can hide his true cowardly nature. At the root of cowardliness is fear and selfishness.

The Cowardly Lion
The Wizard of Oz — MOVIECLIPS.com

When the wizard finally awards the lion his “Courage” medal it’s for an act of bravery in the face of fear and danger, motivated by unselfish love. At the root of true courage is LOVE.

You may be in the midst of serious personal trials: job loss, marriage and family stress, health issues, financial problems, etc. How can you find courage to press through?

The first and best thing that helps me during trials is God’s Word. The book of Psalms is a wonderful place to start. Many of the psalms were written during times of great pain and suffering. These sweet songs can help supply us with words so in our pain we can find a way to praise the Lord. God knows our heart, if we honestly cry out to Him, He promises to hear and answer.

Another way to find the courage to face our own troubles is to help someone else. When we get our mind off our problems, by sowing a seed of goodness in another person’s life, God will give us the strength to press through our own life struggles.