The Courage of the Spirit
“Then the Spirit came upon Amasa, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.” — xz CHRON. xii, 18.
“wy HERE is something very remarkable here. The Spirit of God comes upon a soldier in the moment of his enlistment, comes upon him that he may be helped to enlist. Why not! The only thing which justifies any man in being brave is the motive of the Spirit. The motive of the Spirit is a feeling that a cause is just. There is a courage which belongs to the beast of the field — the courage of recklessness which knows not life’s value; that is not the motive of the Spirit. But there is another courage which is consistent with the love of life, and therefore consistent with fear; it is the courage of duty. That alone is the garb for the soldier; that alone is the gift of the Spirit. It is no virtue to be brave if you are weary of life; it is no heroism to be courageous if you are a stranger to human ties. But if you deem life precious, if you hold ties dear, then it costs something to be brave — costs what only the Spirit of God can pay; nothing but the sense of duty can make the good man a soldier.
Spirit of Christ, who of old didst make men soldiers for the times of war, make me now a soldier for the times of peace. The days of war are ended and the days of peace are come, but we cannot disband our soldiers; our citizens must now all be soldiers. Give me for the city those same qualities which Thou wert wont to give for the camp; I need them for the city more than for the camp. Give me the soldier’s jiscipline, the soldier’s fortitude, the soldier’s chivalry, the soldier’s sacrifice. Nerve me for the battle of peace, more hard than the battle of war. Nerve me for the trials of the market-place, more arduous than the marches of the field. Nerve me, not by drugging my sensibilities, but by giving me a new sense — the perfected sense of duty. Make me brave, not by lessening, but by intensifying my conviction of life’s glory. Make me strong, not with the strength of recklessness, but with that strength which comes from an increased burden of care. Inspire me with Thy sacrificial love, and I shall be a stranger to selfish fear; I shall have the courage to dare all things when I am made a captain in Thy band.