It takes guts to stand up to powerful people and the institutions they operate. It requires boldness. But most people don’t want to face the criticism they’ll receive for resisting the powerful. If you’ve never tried to stand up to a powerful force for evil and taken a beating for it, boldness might seem like a foreign concept, but it’s actually a tiny virtue.  It’s a missing virtue.  We need more people–not fewer people–to stand against evil.  If not Christians, then who?

We’ve been looking at Tiny Virtues for Exemplary Christian Living and the character virtues like boldness are what I’ve called “cluster virtues” because they’re closely related to others, they touch our hearts and minds, contribute to our character, but they reside in the will. Boldness willingly lays one’s life on the line for a cause greater than oneself.  That’s why Christians ought to be the boldest among us.

Boldness was a concept Stephen knew something about. His own character was in order and recognized as such (Acts 6:5-8). That’s not what made him bold, though. What made him bold was the message he brought (Acts 7). He brought the truth.

The truth is that great leaders like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron were deeply flawed men. They lied, they bragged, they killed, and they did the people’s bidding instead of God’s… yet, God used them to bring a pattern of the Messiah to come. Stephen pointed out that truth and proclaimed boldly that people have long rejected and persecuted men whom God was using, the capstone being the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever been bold?  If not, why not?

Ponder today: “When GOD wants to do an impossible task He takes an impossible man and crushes him.” (Alan Redpath).  How does this apply to men in a way it did not apply to Jesus?

Bible character of the day: Stephen

There’s a common tale about pit bulls, that they have special jaws that grab and lock their prey. In truth their jaws are not different in structure at all from any other dog. It’s the pit bull’s personality where the grab and lock occurs. It’s a hard-wired tenacity that is part of the breed.

Tenacity may not be hard-wired in Christians, but it is a Tiny Virtue when tenacity meets up with mettle—that moral courage–of someone who grips God and will not let go.

Tenacity alone is not virtuous at all. Directed toward the immoral, it becomes the purest of evil. Directed toward self, it becomes stubbornness. The only way it’s virtuous is when it involves gripping God and His truth….and refusing to let go. Even when the path forward seems impossible.

Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew what it was like to grip God with tenacity and never let go.

Daniel 3: 16 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

In spite of the punishments of a fiery furnace (Daniel 3:1-30) or the mouth of the lion for Daniel (Daniel 6:5-27), there was a tenacity of faith in God.

Ponder today: Is tenacity something you have as part of your Christian personality or do you need to develop some more?

 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. (2 Chronicles 15:7)

Bible characters of the day: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach,and Abednego

Nobody likes a quitter. How often do we hear stuff like that? Perseverance is more than just not quitting. It’s more than just enduring something which can be sedentary and require no effort of the will. There’s an unmistakable action associated with perseverance. It’s a choice of the will to keep on, keepin’ on…even when it doesn’t appear to be doing any good. Pressing on. Pressing into.

Perseverance is a Tiny Virtue for Exemplary Christian Living because it’s often far easier to just throw up one’s hands and say,

“Well, it must not be God’s will because it’s not happening.”

I was having a conversation last week with a pastor about how much self-promotion one should really engage in … if one is to act Christianly. I’ve been pressing on for over a decade on something and it gets pretty discouraging, frankly.

I ask myself many questions to try to understand the difference between perseverance and never giving up, especially when it’s time to move on:

• What is my responsibility for making opportunities happen versus responding by faith to ones He brings?
• At what point do we continue to knock and fight and press because it brings glory to God?
• Or conversely, at what point do we submit to end our stubborn efforts because God is moving us on and wants us to give it up already?

The truth is I still don’t have the answers. Maybe God doesn’t want me to have answers but to develop perseverance in seeking Him.

Jesus tells a great parable about this in Luke 18:1-8:

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Do you see the connection between perseverance and faith? Between seeking and receiving answers to prayer?

Luke 8:15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Ponder today: how do I display my faith through perseverance?

Bible “characters” of the day: the widow and the unjust judge

Among the Tiny Virtues for Exemplary Christian Living, we now transition from the heart virtues, the mind virtues and ones in our character to those residing in the human will. These are what I think of as cluster virtues because they touch our hearts and minds, contribute to our character, but they reside in the will. Therefore they have different expressions inward and outward. We will begin our look with fearlessness with the inward expression being courage.

 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

(Deuteronomy 31:6)

Joshua knew more than a little about courage (Exodus 17:9-15). It was one of his defining virtues and yet, he still needed to be reminded to be courageous. Why is that?

What about courage is so elusive?

Courage is an act of the will to stand on an uncertain battlefield … to fight an insidious enemy who often we cannot even see … and to rely upon our God who can only be known by faith to be our protection and to guarantee the outcome.  And to trust that the outcome will be God’s will for our good and His glory even when it may not look like that to us.  It’s faith in action.

Ponder today: what you’re facing that requires courage and if nothing, why not?

Bible character of the day: Joshua

Here’s a  Tiny Virtue for Exemplary Christian Living that you may not have considered: Reserve. In a microwave culture where we want everything instantly, consume things immediately, but tire of them just as quickly, the idea of reserve (until later) is a foreign concept.

But even those who have mastered the art of saving, there’s an equal danger of hoarding. Not using things out of fear there will be a need somewhere down the road. So some people will stockpile a stash for when they will need it.  SELF magazine online responds to that tendency with an article to help people discern the 6 warning signs of hoarding disorder, the “difference between having a disorder and just really, really liking your stuff.”

Reserve—in a biblical sense—is the antidote to both instant consumption and hoarding.  The “sinful woman” had reserve down to an art form.

Matthew 26: 6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

Do you see how she both reserved for the future and reserved for using well?

The disciples were indignant because they only saw reserve as investment, a means of financial gain to control for distribution. Jesus saw her reserve as saving this precious perfume for a far more special purpose: anointing the Savior. Jesus makes it clear that her reserve was beautiful… and a virtue worth remembering.

Ponder today: what are you holding onto…and why?

Bible character of the day: the sinful woman

Can you think of someone in your life who you can always count on? Reliability is one of the more beautiful virtues among the Tiny Virtues for Exemplary Christian Living. Reliability is a lovely anchor for the soul. Like solid ground and rest for the weary and worn traveler.

Some of you may be thinking, “Haven’t you already done this virtue?” You know, loyalty.

I submit to you that what loyalty is among the heart virtues, reliability is among the character virtues.

Reliability ministers to others’ needs as an expression of one’s heart.

The Apostle Paul writes,

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day– and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.

“Only Luke is with me.” Let that sink in.

Reliability.

“At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.”  (Huh?)

Here is the Apostle Paul toward the end of his earthly life. The going got tough and people were abandoning him right and left. Worse, they were doing him harm on their way out. People were opposing him at every turn. Paul was in the midst of the end and he knew it. What he didn’t know…was the future…that he’d be a hero to many Christians in the centuries to come, indeed their favorite apostle. Right now, he’s facing the end. “Only Luke is with me,” he writes.

Scripture doesn’t say if Luke was elsewhere, afraid of persecution, not invited/allowed, or unable to attend Paul’s first defense, but he’s clearly there at the end. Two things about reliability: (1) there are special people in this world who stick with you no matter what happens and (2) even when you’ve been deserted by everyone else, as a Christian, the Lord stands at your side (v.17) and gives you strength.

Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. (Hosea 6:3)

Ponder today: Many of us will never know what it’s like to be abandoned. Nevertheless, may we always appreciate those who stand by our side and acknowledge our Savior who never leaves us nor forsakes us.

Bible character of the day: Luke

Discipline is another character virtue, tiny in its visibility, powerful in its results. Have you ever stopped to think about the connection between faith and discipline? About discipline in a holistic sense?  The centurion did.

Matthew 8: 5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

A well-disciplined life displays an understanding of authority, wisdom, and follow-through. The centurion recognized the authority of Jesus to heal and wisely drew a parallel between Jesus’ authority in the spiritual realm and his own command of those serving under his authority.  Running the race of faith requires a holistic approach to discipline.

The Apostle Paul phrases it this way, 1 Corinthians 9: 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Ponder today: how to run with purpose in every step by excelling in the holistic virtue of discipline… of mind, heart, body, and will.

Bible character of the day: the centurion

One of the Tiny Virtues for Exemplary Christian Living can easily go unnoticed, a character virtue of being calm. Just think how easy it is to become riled up over the latest atrocity or scandal. How easy to fly off the handle at some perceived insult. How quickly we can unfriend or hide posts of those with whom we disagree. How easy it is to panic. To rush in and play the fool. Cultivating a spirit of calm is wisdom and the cure for all that.

Abigail possessed a spirit of calm.

1 Samuel 25 tells her story.

1 Samuel 25: 2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. … 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.

Nabal means Fool and he lived it to the last inch. Abigail, however, heard that his foolish actions threatened the lives of many at the hand of King David. One of her servants relayed this urgent request: 1 Sam 25: 17 “Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. [Nabal] is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”

Many people would panic. Not Abigail. She had a spirit of calm even when pressed. 1 Samuel 25:18 Abigail lost no time.… [She prepared gifts and brought them to King David.] 24 She fell at his feet and said: “My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. 25 May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name– his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent. 26 “Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. 27 And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. 28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live.”

Her crowning words were, 1 Samuel 25:30 When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, 31 my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself.”

King David not only acknowledged the gift, relenting from avenging himself over the offense of Nabal, but he also praised Abigail’s selfless spirit of calm, her wisdom, and good judgment.

Ponder today: the ways you can keep your attitudes, actions, and emotions calm as an expression of wisdom

Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

Bible characters of the day: Abigail, Nabal, and King David

Do you put a premium on honesty?

Do you expect it from others?

If you’re like many people, you think that honesty is being systematically stripped from American life. We’ve become too satisfied with lies and have tolerated it in ourselves and in others.

God doesn’t like falsehood at all. Especially from Christians.

Honesty isn’t thinking or saying nice things about other people or engaging in a popular cause. Honesty is an acknowledgement of truth. And truth is not relative. Truth is a person and His Name is Jesus.  John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

That’s why black pastor Saiko Woods states that Christians ought to wait for facts to emerge.  And he’s absolutely right!

Even videos of recent police shootings, for example, don’t tell the full story of what was in someone’s mind or blood system. When the full story comes out and the truth can be discerned then justice can be done. In a just society, whoever acted lawlessly reaps the consequences irrespective of power, position, a badge, or yes…race.

Has this been a tragedy? Yes, without a doubt. Racism? Not if race wasn’t the motivating factor. Consequences of PCP, DXM, or embalming fluid causing erratic behavior? Who knows?

That’s why we wait for facts. We wait upon the Truth.  That’s honesty.

But in the meantime, we have a media demanding the latest tabloid information and emergence of a non-stop “narrative.” But, that’s not truth. It’s story-telling.

Christian protestor, do you think God knows the difference between a narrative and the Truth? Between the downtrodden we all desire to support and those who rebel against the law and authority?

Can you legitimately call yourself a Christian if you’re really just following the crowd? If you’re not going to follow the Truth and where He leads? Jesus wouldn’t loot stores, commit arson, or boycott unrelated businesses as an expression of helping those downtrodden. Actions like that only heap additional injustice upon those already suffering.  Wake up Christian. 1 John 2:4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Peter and John knew what it was like to ignore the narrative and instead, remain focused on the Truth.   The Sanhedrin were playing emotional politics and conferred together in Acts 4: 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Honesty. That’s God’s policy and the incredible power within a Tiny Virtue for Exemplary Christians. Honesty ought to be more than a tiny virtue. It ought to be bedrock.

Ponder today: whether you’re interested in waiting upon and having a relationship with The Truth or if you’re content with an emotional response to a narrative.

Bible characters of the day: Peter and John

The world is filled with people who don’t know contentment. They aren’t content with their jobs, their spouses, their children, their diets, their accomplishments, or their political candidates. (Figured I might as well add that one since everyone’s thinking it anyway.) In many cases, they feel as if they’re owed something better, something more.

What a difference it would make if we all excelled in one of Tiny Virtues for Exemplary Christian Living, the one called Contentment!

The Apostle Paul knew contentment and spoke about it often. Philippians 4: 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Paul tells us the secret and it involves God and recognizing His provision. Yet so many people today refuse to embrace God and know the contentment He can cultivate in our hearts. Instead, they rely upon false doctrines, teaching them of what other people owe them. Some of these false doctrines are being taught by people who are supposedly pastors.  God has something to say about that:

1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Ponder today: the connection between ongoing strife and the continual absence of God in one’s life

Bible character of the day: Paul