Touré Roberts - Courage

I want to talk to you about courage today. I will begin this short talk by saying that when courage is absent, you suffer loss; the world suffers loss, and future generations are robbed of something. When courage is lacking, there are many definitions of courage, but I will say right away that courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the possession of something greater than your fear. There is a passage of scripture that says, and we all know it and quote it: «God didn’t give us a spirit of fear.» Many times we quote that scripture, and it’s a powerful passage, but we must understand what is being said. What’s being said—or rather, what is not being said—is that we do have fear; it is just saying that God didn’t give it to us. Often, I have a chapter in my book called «The End of Fear,» and there is a notion that you can completely eliminate fear. I do not know if that is necessarily true; I believe there is a higher part of you that can rise above it—this thing called courage that can transcend your fear and help you accomplish your goals.

Often, fear tries to prevent you from doing something or being someone, and I want to discuss that. I want to draw your attention to a passage of scripture in Romans Chapter 8. I can tell you right now that there has not been a single chapter in the Bible, out of all 66 books, that has changed my life spiritually more than Romans Chapter 8—none. This chapter has done more to change my life than any other in the entire text. I mention this to encourage you to master this chapter. I believe if you master it, you will not only believe but also walk in the power of what you believe. Are we together? I want to read and touch on some points regarding fear and courage, and then we will move on.

It says, «But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you—He who raised Christ from the dead— that Spirit will also give life to your mortal bodies.» There is much to unpack here, but ultimately, it refers to the part of you that is dying. We have two parts: one that is living and one that is dying. The word «mortal» literally means subject to death, so there is a part of us that is subject to die. When we embrace God, we receive the Spirit of God, the same Spirit that triumphed over death by raising Christ from the dead. That Spirit within us gives us life, even though a part of us is heading toward death. Stay with me; I will tie it all together.

There is a part of us right now with a destiny toward death, and if you don’t believe me, you don’t need to be spiritual to see it—just keep living for a little while. None of us can escape it, right? We take pills all day; come on, somebody! I have all my vitamins—hello, somebody! All my anti-aging stuff is great, but anti-aging is an illusion. The very presentation of anti-aging is a lie because you cannot stop aging. You can minimize the effects through health and wellness—I’m just trying to make my point clear. The reality is that you can take spirituality entirely out of it, and the fact remains that there is something within us that is being drawn toward the destiny of no more. Can I get an amen? Am I speaking crazy? No, I am not; all of us must face this.

So, there is a part of us that is drawn to death. The scripture says that if you have the Spirit of God, that Spirit gives you life so that the part of you that is dying will not ultimately consume you. That is the meaning of that verse. Let’s keep reading: «Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.» Let me back up for a moment. That part of us that is dying is connected to our flesh. Has anyone ever heard of flesh? If you break down the word «flesh» in Greek, it is quite interesting; it literally means the skin of something—the outer layer, the surface, not even the essence of something but the surface of it. The flesh represents the part of us that is mortal and given to death. Everything about the flesh leads to death; that’s why you cannot trust it. Hello, somebody! Don’t make me remix this whole message! Let’s talk.