I have four stories I want to share that deal with courage. They all share a common thread but all the people don't share the same views, but each one is motivated by love and probably some of the people involved do not see what they are doing as courage, but I have come to see each one as courage, and each one drew me back to 1 John 4:18:
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”The first is my story, about a week ago, my boyfriend and I were walking to meet some friends, holding hands (a normal thing for us) and a guy stopped us to ask about how long we have been together and if we were married...by this point, his husband had walked back to join him. They were going out to celebrate their third anniversary but the guy explained he had to stop us to comment on us holding hands, wishing that they had the courage to do that. What was a normal, every day activity for us, wasa sign of courage to them.
The second story is about a missionary from South America who happened upon my boyfriend and I about 10 PM one evening, walking down the street, holding hands. She greeted us in her broken English and began to politely, kindly, and with love tell us about Jesus. She explained that love between two men was wrong and urged us to seek Jesus. She was gentle, she was kind, and she spent perhaps 15 minutes talking to us, urging us to seek Jesus and at the end of conversation, parted with, God bless you. Now, I admit, I struggled with this one because when I said that I knew Jesus, she insisted I did not, but I was reminded to see her love in what she said and the time she spent by my boyfriend, and he was right. It was late at night, she was all alone, and there were not many people around, but she spoke in love, not fear. She displayed courage.
The next story is about a mother. Her son is gay and she loves him dearly. All her life she was told that being gay was wrong, but now she is forced to confront feelings and understandings within herself. She chooses to examine those feelings and wrestle with them to understand, all the while maintaining the friendship she has with her son. In addition to wrestling with the feelings within herself. she finds herself advocating for understanding from her husband, not for their son, for he too loves their son, but for her son's boyfriend to be welcome in their home for holidays. Her courage in facing what she has been taught all her life and creating uncomfortableness in her home, is motivated by love. While it can be scary, she walks a path of love.
The last story is about a pastor. She has a church that is only a couple of years old. She has built the congregation from the beginning, moving from a house church to a church with a permanent location. She has a gay man who has offered to start a small group in the church. In conversations with the pastor that mentors her and the small group coordinator of the church she started from, she gets a mixed reaction to having a gay man in a leadership role. She knows that she might face conflict, questions, and uncomfortableness, but she weighs all the factors to look at the person as a Christian man with leadership skills and evaluates his walk and what he has to offer over the label of gay that society places on him. She has courage to stand on the side of love and risk the criticism of Christians.
Each of these people is operating in love, love for another person or love for people in general. It is unclear whether they think of what they are doing as showing courage, but it has become clear to me that each one is walking in courage and not in fear.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
Do you have a story of courage? I would love to hear about it.
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