{"id":67877,"date":"2024-05-01T17:10:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T22:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=67877"},"modified":"2024-05-01T17:10:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T22:10:19","slug":"drawing-strength-from-the-courage-of-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drawing-strength-from-the-courage-of-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing Strength from the Courage of Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Bill Hall<\/p>\n<p>We should be thankful for wonderful examples of courage that spur us on to greater strength in the Lord&#8217;s service.<\/p>\n<p>Paul was just such an example: &#8220;<em>And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear<\/em>&#8221; (Philippians 1:14). These brethren, formerly timid and reticent, were drawing strength from the courage of Paul.<\/p>\n<p>Other examples abound. Stephen&#8217;s plea, &#8220;<em>Lord, lay not this sin to their charge<\/em>,&#8221; surely had for its source of strength the forgiving spirit of the Lord (Acts 7:60). The Thessalonian church found a source of strength in the example of the churches in Judea (I Thessalonians 2:14). The Philippian church, a model of courage and conviction, could no doubt trace much of its strength back to the wonderful example of patience and equanimity demonstrated by Paul and Silas while in their midst. The Hebrew Christians were admonished to &#8220;<em>remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith<\/em>&#8221; (Hebrews 13:7).<\/p>\n<p>Christians of this generation are similarly drawing strength from the courage of others.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Young men who refuse to miss services of the church to play on a ball team;<\/li>\n<li>young women who refuse to be seen in public in scanty attire;<\/li>\n<li>businessmen who would lose their jobs rather than compromise their convictions;<\/li>\n<li>women who continue to adorn themselves in &#8220;<em>meek and quiet spirits<\/em>&#8221; whatever the sophisticated world thinks or says of them;<\/li>\n<li>sick people who bear their afflictions with patience and faith;<\/li>\n<li>elderly people who continue to attend worship when they are hardly able to go anywhere else;<\/li>\n<li>dying people who demonstrate how Christians ought to die;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All are sources of strength and courage for others facing similar circumstances. They share a common spirit with the great characters of the Bible: They see in their temptations, trials, afflictions, and persecutions a special opportunity to be like Christ, to demonstrate their fidelity to Him, and to provide a source of strength for those who might be weak and wavering around them. They seize the opportunity and stand, and we all are stronger because of them. Of these courageous people, this world truly is not worthy.<\/p>\n<p>Are we, however, to be always on the receiving end of the strength of others? As we draw strength from the courage of others, we must, in turn, become sources of strength and courage. Others look to us. Each of us has a &#8220;<em>charge to keep<\/em>,&#8221; &#8220;<em>God to glorify<\/em>,&#8221; and &#8220;<em>a present age to serve<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bill Hall We should be thankful for wonderful examples of courage that spur us on to greater strength in the Lord&#8217;s service. Paul was just such an example: &#8220;And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear&#8221; (Philippians 1:14). These&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1126,357,1210],"class_list":["post-67877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-courage","tag-encouragement","tag-strength"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63537,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/taking-courage\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":0},"title":"Taking Courage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 28:1-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Suppose your boss never gave you any feedback concerning your job. You come in, do your job and leave, but you never hear a word of criticism or praise. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It almost sounds like the ideal job. But I think most people would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calm-under-pressure\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":1},"title":"Calm Under Pressure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse How can a person remain calm even when he or she is under pressure, sometimes immense pressure?\u00a0 Perhaps we should ask if it's even possible to remain calm in this pressure-cooker world we live in?\u00a0 When we view this from the spiritual perspective we can say that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/PressureCooker-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60410,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-were-the-mighty-men-of-valor\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":2},"title":"Who were the mighty men of valor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Who are the mighty men of valor in\u00a0 Joshua 1:14-15? Are they special skilled forces or just faithful men of courage and mental strength, who are willing to do what God instructs them to do? Answer: \"Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, \"Pass through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-make-hannah-wait-so-long-before-having-a-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":3},"title":"Why did God make Hannah wait so long before having a child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Today we read about Hannah finally giving birth to Samuel. Why did it take so long? Why did God close her womb until Samuel? Answer: We aren't told why God had Hannah wait. \"Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65558,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-can-be-a-pillar-in-gods-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":4},"title":"You Can Be a Pillar in God&#8217;s Temple","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-can-youth-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":67877,"position":5},"title":"What Can Youth Do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the Lord\u2019s work is done entirely by grownups \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sure, the boys help with the scripture reading and wait on the Lord\u2019s Table. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But what is there really for a person to do other than wait\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67877\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}