Years ago, I was working as an editor for a company that produced a women’s health publication. One of the contributors was strongly in favor of abortion, and she regularly submitted articles that promoted her position. Each time, I removed these passages. As a Christian, I could not, in good conscience, allow our newsletter to encourage something I believed was morally wrong.
For a while, I was able to keep those references out. Then the day came when my boss told me to print the content. That left me with a heavy decision I did not want to face. Should I keep my name in the publisher’s box and stay quiet? Or should I ask to have my name removed and risk losing my job?
There was no way I could be associated with the promotion of abortion. So I explained my objection to my boss and asked him to remove my editorial credit if those passages remained. He looked at me and said, “If you can’t put your name on the newsletter, then you shouldn’t be working here.”
Before my boss could dismiss me, the company’s vice president stepped in. He said, “We know Steve’s faith is more important than this job, so we’re not going to fire him for his beliefs. Besides, our audience is over 60, so there’s no reason we should be publishing anything about abortion. It doesn’t benefit our subscribers.”
Thankfully, this man saved my job that day. Even better, the company never published another pro-abortion article.
I wish I could tell you that I felt brave in that moment. I did not. I felt tense, exposed, and uncertain what would happen next. Courage often feels that way. It does not always arrive with a rush of confidence. Sometimes it comes with a dry mouth, a pounding heart, and the realization that obedience may cost you something you care about.
Such decisions are difficult. Without risk, loss, tension, or fear, we would probably describe them as preferences rather than acts of courage.
Dr. James Dobson once described the struggle this way: “Christians in some ways remind me of an army that’s pinned down. There are bullets flying overhead, machine guns just four or five feet above our heads, and people are afraid to raise their heads up for fear they’ll get hit. So they remain crouched close to the ground to not to be wounded. That’s not the position that Christ has asked us to take. He told us to take a stand for the things we believe in.”
That image is powerful because many believers understand the temptation to stay low. Your circumstances may differ from mine, but we know that speaking up could damage a relationship, create tension at work, or bring criticism from people we care about. Recognizing that truth does not erase the potential cost of defending it.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It is faithfulness in the presence of fear.
The Lord told Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV). God gave that command not because Joshua had nothing to dread. He gave it because the road ahead was going to be difficult, and Joshua needed to remember he would not have to walk it alone.
The same is true for you. God may ask you to make hard choices in places that appear ordinary on the surface but deeply important in your soul. It may happen in your marriage, when you choose humility instead of pride. You may experience it as a parent, when you lovingly set a boundary your child tearfully does not understand. It could occur at work, when you refuse to compromise your integrity, as I did. Or you may face a hard decision in a friendship, when you must speak the truth with grace instead of staying silent to keep the peace.
Courageous choices may draw public attention or remain known only to you and God. Either way, each one is important.
You also need to stand firm when you don’t get the result you hoped for. I praise the Lord for sparing my job that day, but we should praise Him even when we don’t see a positive outcome. Sometimes standing for what is right brings tremendous loss. You may be misunderstood. You may be excluded. You may lose a relationship. You may pay a price you never wanted to pay.
Such resolve must rest on something deeper than favorable circumstances. If obedience depends on everything turning out well, disappointment may undermine it. But with Christ as your foundation, you can remain faithful even without knowing what will come next.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV). Notice that godly courage differs from harshness, anger, or a determination to win every argument. This strength is expressed through compassion and restraint: defending truth without cruelty and resisting intimidation without contempt for others.
You may never face a moment in your life that feels historic. Most of us will not. But you will make decisions that reveal what you believe. Opportunities will arise when you will have to choose truth instead of comfort, obedience over approval, and faith instead of fear. Those moments may seem insignificant, but they will help shape the kind of person you are becoming.
