The ancient Greeks had several words for love. The four most common ones were: storge for the love family members have for one another, eros for the romantic and sexual love spouses would have for one another, philia for the love of friends and comrades, and there was agape which was the ultimate love where one would sacrifice for another. They did have other words for various types of love, but these were the main ones and to ones found in the Bible.
We need to recognize that there are different types of courage, and maybe we should have different words to understand the differing concepts.
The first should be valor. This is physical courage. The courage we see in soldiers who leap on hand grenades or go running toward the sound of the guns. It is the courage of an injured athlete rising up and ignoring the pain to go on and to gain victory. It is the courage that is given medals, accolades and is respected even by your enemies.
The next is steadfastness. It is this the courage one reaches down into their gut that has them hold on when they have nothing left. It is the courage that keeps the soldier on the battlefield when all hope of victory is gone. They stay because it is their duty, and they know they must keep true allegiance to the task they have started. This is the mother staying up all night with a sick child and then in the morning when all she wants to do is sleep will still see her husband off to work. This is the courage of a father taking on the responsibility of caring for his family even though such responsibility ages him beyond his years and places him in an early grave. It is the courage that the world often sees as stupidity, but it is what keeps the world thriving and civilization from collapsing. It is the courage that usually goes unnoticed.
The final, and highest, type of courage is fortitude. This is the courage to take a stand against the mob because you know it is the right thing to do. It is the courage that comes from strength of character, and it is the most misunderstood, and often the most hated and derided. It is the courage to stand for what is right and honorable even when all the world stands against you. It is the courage to call those in power what they are, a brood of vipers twice as fit for hell. It is the courage to say I have a dream. It is the courage to protect and champion the persecuted even though it will cause you to be added to the persecuted. It is the courage to tell the whole world “You are wrong, and I refuse to participate in your evil.” This is the courage that will cause you to be crushed and hated. This is the courage, if you find it, you never need to fear looking in the mirror, and at the end of life’s journey will have God say to you, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” This is the courage that changes the world. Unfortunately, it is the courage few have, and even fewer aspire toward.
#Courage