Why is it that people like the typical characters played by John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or in more recent movies, Vin Diesel, or Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne? I think part of the reason is their display of courage.

Courage comes down to, risking harm to your self for something more important. The harm may be pain, intimidation, insecurity, threat of death or injury, shame, or personal loss, or other risks. I think we like these characters because they display both physical courage, risking life and limb for a what is right and moral courage, going against the crowd or the easy way in order to do the right thing.

God tells Joshua in Joshua 1:9, “be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We need to think of ourselves like these courageous characters. We may not face physical risks for living our faith, without apology, but we may face risks of embarrassment, intimidation or ridicule. Our faith is more important than avoiding embarrassment.

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.”

Dear Lord, we know we should be courageous in living our Christian lives, without backing down from what is right in your eyes. Work in us to have this courage. In doing so, maybe we can be one of these courageous characters that leads others to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.”

And he says in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

It would be reasonable then to believe that the opposite of these characteristics “fruit” would go something like this: “The fruit of our sinful nature is hate, gloom, stress, worry, fear, impatience, meanness, dishonesty, harshness, and lack of self-control.”

So when we see characteristics from this second list in ourselves or others, it is not from God.

Dear Lord, Help us model our lives on the example Jesus gave us. The perfect example of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shortly after finishing college, I had a job working in the offices of a major car company outside New York City. The group of recent grads and I were the people who answered the telephone if a customer, in the NY metro area, had a problem with their car and the dealership did not satisfy their concern. At that time, cars were not as reliable as they are today, and fixing them was not always an exact science. Most of the people we spoke with had been through several visits to their dealership and their cars were still not working properly. Understandably, most were very upset.

We all learned early on, that arguing or getting upset ourselves in response to these customers was unproductive, and a quick path to frustration and more anger. What almost always worked was keeping our calm tone, being understanding, and not getting defensive. Sometimes it took a while, but eventually if we kept calm, the customer would settle down and we could work on solving the issue.

It is interesting how we were experiencing something that is written in Proverbs 15:1, ” A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”

It can take a lot of self control to maintain our calm when someone else is angry with us, criticizing us, and insulting us, but that is the maturity that God is calling us to practice. When we do, we are demonstrating Gods love for us, and our love for our neighbor, and typically we will feel better about ourselves as a result.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the wisdom you give us in the Bible. Wisdom provided by you who made us and therefore have the instruction manual for our lives. Help us read, learn and follow this wisdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

One of the difficult instructions we have as Christians is to love our enemies, and particularly, we are not to seek revenge. It is difficult not to look for an opportunity to get back at someone who made a joke at our expense, cut us off in traffic, or got the promotion we were hoping for.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” As difficult as it is, we need to be kind to those who do us wrong, that is our part of the arrangement. Taking care of the offender is God’s part of the arrangement. Paul tells us in Romans 12:19, “for it is written: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” KJV in verse 21 he says, “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” NLT When we sink to revenge and vengeance, we are damaging our own character and bringing ourselves down to the level of our offender.

Dear Lord, Help us to stay above the evil around us, be kind and gracious to those who offend us, and pray for them. By being kind, we may be the tool you are using to bring that person to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray. Jesus’ reply is what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It is recorded in both Luke 11 and Matthew 6.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus says, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us what we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

We can never go wrong praying the Lord’s prayer. We obviously can pray in other ways, as well.

I learned a memory device that I sometimes us to help me structure my prayers. It is an acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) which we can use like this;

Dear Lord, we are in awe of your power to create all that we know, and the love you have for us. We are sorry that we cannot meet the standard of perfection that you created for us and we routinely do wrong to ourselves and each other. Thank you for your forgiveness and the peace of knowing that Jesus’ sacrifice has made us perfect. Give us the things we need to live our lives and bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.