Devotionals for the Heart: Be Brave

Heroism Unleashed
A devotional by Gail Kittleson

Many heroes stand out in a crowd as muscular, brash, and egotistical. They can do superhuman feats, it seems.

The Olympics, though, highlights true heroes and heroines who enter their race with integrity and humility. Their tears when they win—or when they don’t—testify that they’re in this for reasons of the heart.

A hero or heroine displays courage, bravery or self-sacrifice for some greater good in the face of danger or adversity.

Joseph, a wealthy man who had a great deal to lose by choosing to support Jesus, qualifies as an unobtrusive hero. This member of the Jewish Council and a secret disciple of Jesus, watched for the kingdom of God. He appears in all four Gospels, and his act of burying Jesus in the tomb he’d prepared for his own body garners our attention.

In order to accomplish this feat, Joseph “asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission.” (John 19:38 ESV) Nicodemus helped him, and we can imagine the two of them carrying their load to the tomb. They’d witnessed Jesus’ wise dealings with the Pharisees and Sadducees, heard His teachings, and in spite of their fear of retribution from the powers that be, they believed.

The burial of Jesus catapults them into heroism. They had every reason to slink into the shadows with the rest of Jesus’ disciples, every reason not to do what they did that night. The High Priest’s henchmen were about, scanning for followers of Jesus.

But in a quiet, thoughtful way, Joseph and Nicodemus completed their work of love. A few women paid attention, and risked their lives, too, revealing their devotion to the Savior.

Let's pray: Help us, Lord, in our everyday challenges, to display courage like your servants, Joseph and Nicodemus.

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Author Bio: 

When Gail’s not steeped in World War II research, drafting scenes, or deep in an edit of her 1940’s novels, she does a limited amount of editing for other authors. 

She also facilitates writing and creativity workshops, both in Iowa and Arizona, where she and her husband like to spend part of the winter in the amazing Ponderosa pine forest under the Mogollon Rim. 

Favorites: spending time with grandchildren, walking, reading, meeting new people, and hearing from readers who fall in love with her characters.

Words of Faith: Heroism, the world's standards and the Call of God

The Core of a Hero
A Words of Faith story by Terri Reed

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

I think heroism is not an easily defined state by this world’s standards. We look at the media and see athletes touted as heroes. We see activist being named a hero for their work and we see actors called heroes for roles they play. We look to what’s happening in the world and see men and women dying in battles that are meant to free others. We see firemen, policemen and others in professions where they risk their lives for the safety of others. There are schoolteachers who give everything they have so a child can learn. There are doctors who fight to save lives, to find cures to disease and who help to make life more bearable. There are parents struggling to hold onto their families in a world where division is the norm. There are people struggling to overcome addictions and children struggling just to survive.

Are any of these less or more heroic than another? Who is the judge? We each see life differently and individually define our heroes.

As a Christian, I look to the Bible for examples of heroism. Men and women obeying the call of God on their lives against adversity and persecution. I look to Jesus Christ as the ultimate hero. The One who I could only hope to emulate.

As a writer, I try to make my characters heroic. Sometimes that means big actions that require bravery and sacrifice. Sometimes small actions that can only be seen by the reader such as acting in spite of misgivings, overcoming fear to love or to help, moral integrity, and facing one’s flaws to become a better person. If our characters don’t grow and change, becoming more heroic as the story unfolds, the integrity of the story is comprised and becomes insipid.

From his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell defined a hero as someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.

Faith.

On another occasion, Campbell defined two different types of heroic deeds. One, he said, is the physical deed, in which the hero performs a courageous act and saves a life. The other kind is the spiritual deed, in which the hero learns to experience the supernormal range of human life and then comes back with a message (a lesson, a gift, an idea) to share.

I like this because it broadens the scope of heroism and suggests that each and every one of us can be a hero in our everyday lives. Through faith nothing is impossible. I pray that we all would look for ways to be heroes in these turbulent times.

~*~
Author bio: 

Terri Reed’s romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publisher’s Weekly Top 25, Nielsen’s BookScan Top 100 and featured in USA Today, Christian Fiction Magazine and Romantic Times Magazine, finaled in RWA’s RITA contest, National Reader’s Choice Award contest, ACFW’s Carol Awards contest. 

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Connect with Terri:

Website - www.terrireed.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/terrireedauthorpage/

Snail mail - P.O. Box 19555 

Portland, OR 97224