Courage

It is curious that physical courage is so common in the world, yet moral courage, so rare.

It blows me away to see the crazy, scary things that people get up to in the world. These insane stunts include:

The deepest underwater dive of 830 feet… without a breathing apparatus. He held his breathe for 9 minutes!

A tight rope walk over the Niagara falls that lasted more than 26 minutes… with no safety rope!

A Frenchman climbing the 76 story, Cayan Tower… with absolutely no gear and no safety precautions.

So many humans seem to have no issue in scraping together enough courage to do these mind-blowing stunts, yet fail to take a courageous moral stand. And the main reason for this discrepancy between physical and moral courage, is simply our desire to impress and please others. Why is it that the opinion of people we don’t even know, is more important than what we truly believe to be right? We will go against our own morals, simply because we don’t want people to dislike us. Here’s a wake up call… Social media isn’t real life. How many likes we get on Facebook doesn’t determine our moral fibre; doing the right thing even when everyone else isn’t, does! And so does making a difference in the world without the need for applause and recognition.

I have learnt such a valuable life lesson in my 30 odd years of teaching – It’s not so much about getting the children to like me, than it is to get them to respect me. I have learnt that children need more role models. They need more guidance and less entertainment. And that’s exactly what the world needs. Entertainment distracts us from what we should be doing.

The thing is, that we don’t always know what’s the best for us. If it depended on us, we would run after the “funnest” and most comfortable things. But that’s not what we need. The world needs more role models filled with moral fibre. Morally courageous people might not get the most likes and hits, but they will have the biggest impact. Lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep. Lions are on a mission and they won’t allow themselves to be distracted by small barking dogs.

Joshua said to the Israelites… “Decide today who you will serve.” In the same way, you and I need to make that decision right here and right now. Are you a lion or a sheep? Will you choose popularity over purpose? As Joshua answered His own challenge, I answer in the same way, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!” And that means choosing moral courage. It means choosing purpose over popularity. My posts might not get as many likes as some random photo that looks cool, but I know that it is morally sound and that’s good enough for me.

Have a blessed day filled with moral courage.