Every day we have an opportunity to cultivate extraordinary courage in others through our calling, in our teams, through our sphere of influence—sometimes simply through our words or our presence. Let’s dialogue about this topic. I don’t have the answers or a complete picture, and so I hope to hear your voice. I’m a willing learner, an experimenter, someone who feels called to be a courage-advocate but admittedly struggles with courage herself.

Some who similarly struggled, inspire me. Jeremiah the prophet felt unsure and unready but later could not keep silent (Jeremiah 1:1-2; 20:9).

Others inspire me by their earnestness to move forward in the face of opposition—like Joshua, who led God’s people into battle to claim the land that was already theirs (Joshua 1), or the sick woman who defied cultural norms to venture into the streets of Capernaum to find Jesus (Mark 5:24-29).

Each of these individuals stepped into and inspired boldness, even while they were weak, struggling or facing opposition. God equipped and used them to shape a culture of extraordinary courage.

That’s encouraging. Perhaps we can stretch our courage legs to move into those transformative places where God calls us to take flight. This might be to speak up, to venture out, to contribute, to lead and influence in ways that extraordinarily change culture.

We say yes and take that step. He supplies the courage.

Build a Culture of Courage

I fully believe our influence creates an environment where courage is either nurtured or thwarted.

I’m quickly kicked out of my own comfortable, self-feathered nest with evaluative questions like these:

• Am I intentional about how my presence, contribution, or role impacts others? Am I God-led?
• Is the environment a nurturing space where each person feels confident that she can be all God created her to be?
• Is she barely surviving because of how I lead or is she encouraged and freed to take creative, bold action?
• Does each person sense she is seen and valued, and therefore supported in taking her own courageous next steps?
• Does she feel free to experiment in taking creative, bold steps, with room to fail, learn and grow?

In other words, it seems that inspiring courageous action as a culture flows out of first seeing and honoring the people around us as unique, contributing individuals.

Be Intentional

I tend to enjoy lingering in the creative stages of playing with ideas, so at times I need a push toward stepping into action. I’m guessing some of you are with me there.

We can ask ourselves, what is the courage impact or culture I want to intentionally create, and then set specific actions that will accomplish that. For instance:

I want others to sense and feel free to step into courage to:

• Be heard and seen
• Tell their story
• Change and grow in ways that support who they are
• Contribute out of their unique personality and gifts
• Be experimenters and innovators, without a fear of being wrong or failing
• Honor fully how God is leading them

Therefore, I will:
Get to know each person as an individual, listen to her story, ask what she would most love to contribute, hear and value her voice, give her room to be innovative and to experiment.

Begin Where You Are

“Begin where you are” is a courage value that we celebrate through Voice of Courage. God calls us to lead others with impact right where we are today, with who we are right now.

Start with the simple prayer, “Jesus, use me.”

See where he takes you in cultivating extraordinary courage within yourself and within others. Tell us about even the small steps you are taking, the new realizations you are discovering. We’d love to celebrate with you!

We’d also like to hear your voice on this topic. Add to the dialogue!