The Value of Spiritual Courage
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we seek to understand the value of spiritual courage.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Value of Spiritual Courage
"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Psalms,
Chapter 31, Verse 24.
Brothers and sisters, spiritual courage is absolutely necessary if we are to grow spiritually and to
obey the Father's perfection mandate. To help us better understand the nature of spiritual courage,
consider this parable.
Once there was a very wealthy man who went on a far journey into a distant land. Before leaving,
he called all his servants together. He told them many things and gave many instructions. He also
gave them large sums of money to invest during his absence. According to their abilities and their
talents, a larger sum to the greatest and lesser sum to the least, the money was divvied up
accordingly.
During his absence, the first of these servants retired to contemplate his trust. He was of a mind to
maximize profits from the money. He thought about his many successes of the past, his ability, and
his confidence. He studied investment opportunities until his wisdom selected the perfect investment.
With astonishing success, he was able to return his master's money one hundredfold.
The second of these servants was filled with a combination of fear and courage, which when
combined produced a certain kind of ambivalence. This state seemed to cloud her thinking somewhat
so that the process of reflecting and arriving at a wise decision was most painful. To escape this
painful predicament, she seized upon the first sound investment that came along. Her return was not
as spectacular as the first servant, but still she increased her investment tenfold.
The last of these servants was a coward. In the past during the training exercises that his master
conducted, he declined to avail himself of the wisdom and courage concealed in these experiences.
He thought it was all a waste of time. He never asked any questions and was defensive when he was
asked any questions. When he was corrected for his errors in thinking and planning, he took it
personally. He didn't realize he was being corrected so that he could be of more fruitful service in
the future.
As a result of this maladjustment, he increasingly played it very safe. In fact he played it so safe that
he did not invest his master's money at all, but buried it. When the master returned, he handed his
master the same amount of money that had been given him initially. The master was so outraged by
this slothful servant that he took what the slothful servant submitted and gave it to the first servant
who had increased his money a hundredfold. Thus it is seen that he who has shall be given even
more, while he who does not have shall have even that which he has taken away.
Brothers and sisters, the Father has given us all trusts of love, faith, and goodness. It is his desire that
we multiply these trusts, increase the value of them in our experiences as we live. We may not all
be able to increase our trusts by a hundredfold, but we can certainly increase our trusts to the best
of our spiritual abilities. Refusing to allow love to flow through us to those in need is tantamount to
burying the Master's money since there will be no increase in love in the world from us. Love can
never be spread if we are unwilling to take the time to learn to love somebody new. Refusing to
exercise faith in the goodness of the Father's love is also the same as refusing to invest the Master's
money. Remember, we don't exercise faith when things are going smoothly and there are no
upheavals. We exercise faith when there is an opportunity. Seeing by sight is not faith and neither
can seeing by sight develop faith. But seeing by spiritual insight is faith. And always does spiritual
insight proclaim that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost. Therefore, brothers and sisters, there is
never any need for spiritual panic, spiritual hopelessness, spiritual disappointment, or spiritual
sorrow. Be of good courage.
This concludes today's message on understanding the value of spiritual courage. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next time, this
is Dr. James Perry.
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