Daniel 1:8 (ESV) “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”
Conviction: Standing up for what’s right even when others don’t
COURAGE = Being brave enough to do what you should do, even when you’re afraid
Daniel 6:10 (ESV) “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”
Luke 14:26 (NIV) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”
COURAGE = Willing to sacrifice everything for the great cause
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Tertullian (164-200AD) declared: “Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust. The more you mow us down, the more we grow, for the seed of the church is the blood of the Christians. Every single drop of our blood springs up, in some thirty, in some sixty and in some and hundred-fold.”
Love in action silences all arguments.
1 Peter 2:12 (NIV) “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Julian the Apostate, writing to a pagan priest, “When it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked by the [pagan] priests, then I think the impious Galilaeans [Christians] observed this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy.”6 To another, he wrote, “[They] support not only their poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.”
OUTKIND YOUR ENEMY!
