Boldness comes in various forms. To be bold is to be brave; to stand up, and sometimes to stand alone.
There have been countless moments in my life where I have had to be bold, despite feeling the weight of the world. Instead of running, I choose to adopt the characteristic of boldness for every situation I face, no matter how defeated, unsettled or insignificant I feel.
Sometimes I can take on too much of the world all at once and it becomes an exhausting effort. It is in these moments I have to consider whether this is something worth fighting for.
Purpose
When I taught Fencing lessons, one of my favourite aspects to teach was taking up the sword and having a purpose to use it.
Fighting with a sword is one small element of ‘swordfighting’, however the real consideration for using a sword is having something to fight for; having a purpose to use it.
As much as I would love to be a part of a Narnian-styled battle and train people to be physically heroic and fight for good, that, of course, was not what I was preparing my students for. I wanted my students to think deeper than that–the life lesson lingering on the tip of their foil—knowing what to fight for.
Knowing what to fight for is so important to realise in life. We don’t use swords to fight off evil armies, but we can use it as a metaphorical way of explaining how to confront our toughest situations and to make realistic and honourable judgements on our next steps to take.
Before the fight
Every moment of my life that I have had to face something I didn’t think I could get through, I have thought about the reason/s I am facing it to begin with.
Sometimes these reasons are not so clear, however, I generally have an inkling as to why I may have been given this mountain.
The story of Job in the Bible is a perfect example of this. He lost absolutely everything, however, God allowed this to happen to him because he had greater plans in store for his future.
Job fought on and decided to trust in God and rely on God as his strength. By being faithful, Job gained more than what he originally had because he trusted in God and believed that God’s purpose was deliberate in sending Job through this experience.
Psalm chapter 23, verse four says, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.’
The battle
When facing your opponent in a fencing bout, nothing else in this moment matters except what you feed into your mind. One quick parry-riposte and if done right, you have your target undermined at your will. If not, it is likely a few more advances and retreats, teasing with the point of your sword, until you can clear your path to attack again.
Now obviously life is not as heavy handed as a sword fight (hopefully), but when prepping for battle, or preparing yourself to fight your opponent, you walk into each bout with your mind set on what you are trying to achieve. What is my real target? What am I wanting to walk away with achieving?
What we tell ourselves in our minds is generally our drive forward. One simple thought, such as, ‘I will overcome this.’ Can be the difference between you succeeding at something, or not.
Isn’t it incredible how the way you position your thoughts can influence how you accomplish something?
These days we don’t need much for swords, daggers or big battles where you ride in on horseback and heroically fight to the death for a great cause.
Our battles nowadays consist of politics, questioning the meaning of life and death, identity, religion, climate change, love and marriage, abortion, and freedom of speech. Incredible, isn’t it?
It hurts my heart greatly that people have to constantly question the right to someone living. When did the meaning of living become something of a choice? God gave us life so that we may live and live to the full for His glory!
Life is so extremely precious, and it is an absolute abundant blessing that we have to take a breath each and every day. But why has this become something our politicians need to discuss the importance of?
My generation, especially, knows nothing of war. Don’t get me wrong, I am so glad and feel beyond blessed not to have faced a war like my ancestors did. However, we know nothing of times of absolute heart-wrecking trial, let alone, how to discover our own identity.
Instead we have allowed society, dirty politicians, careless individuals, and the media to corrupt our young minds and feed out the lies of the devil. This is not what God wants. Society tells us that if we don’t feel a certain way, we are something else.
It feeds us ridiculous social and economic movements that are false and hype-driven to create something for this generation to sink their teeth into—to make us feel like we are a part of something bigger.
Corruption
These falsehoods are a corruption of the devil’s work that has infiltrated our leader’s thoughts, and not just our leaders, but ‘progressives’ or people of the world.
Children are being targeted and pulled into immoral lies, acts, teachings and life-threatening mis-leadings from adults, as well as being treated as ‘less-than’ because of a selfish, careless, un-Godly precedence.
How could we have stooped this low? I’ll answer it for you—because people don’t read their Bibles. Because ‘progressive Christians’ are following what the world is telling them rather than what God prudently tells us in His Word. Galatians chapter six, verse five says, ‘For each will have to bear his own load.’
Christians are meant to be people that stand out beyond the crowd, who shine God’s light among the darkness, who are in the world but NOT of the world, and who are bold and strong in their faith and their God-given purpose because that is what God has spoken over us.
I am disgusted by what some people call ‘kindness’ these days. Kindness does not mean let the world run amuck because they do not want to hurt someone’s feelings. Kindness does not mean to lead someone to their death because that is what is socially acceptable.
A hero is not someone who stands by and lets others fix the problems of the world. A hero is someone who looks at the troubles, the lies, the deceiving propaganda, and decides that they are going to be the one who helps change it—even if no one else stands up.
So be bold, be brave. No matter what the cost, know what you are fighting for and always stand for the truth and the Word of God. Afterall, the Bible does say: ‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’ (Hebrews chapter four, verse 12).
‘Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ (Ephesians chapter six, verse 17)
Cartia Moore is a sword fighter, trained and skilled in the art of fencing. She has recently graduated from her Bachelor of Arts degree and has completed an Honours in Screen & Media Studies. She is now going on to do a Master of Teaching (Secondary), focusing in the teaching areas of English and Film studies. She is passionate and driven to inspire and encourage others to seek and find their worth and value in Him.
Cartia Moore’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/cartia-moore.html