Courage

If we could pick just one personal quality to cultivate in our daughters – if we could gift wrap one specific character trait and envelope them in it like a warm, cozy sweater – what would it be?

Based on the multitude of challenges that women face in the world today, particularly young women of integrity and faith, I think I’d infuse our daughters with a heaping dose of courage!

I want to teach our girls, their friends and the generations that follow how to bravely stand where the Lord places them and how to courageously follow where their Savior leads!

I want girls and women of all ages to take the following passage of Scripture to heart:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

What exactly is courage? For each of us, courage means finding the mental and moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear and difficulties, even when we are afraid. For Christians, courage also encompasses learning to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit by acknowledging Jesus as the source of our power and strength! (Philippians 4:13)

The Bible is filled with many examples of young women who trusted in God’s promises and relied on God’s strength when faced with adversity, social pressure, and overwhelming odds. When their peers pressure our daughters, when our culture tries to make them feel small, we can to teach our daughters to turn to the brave and courageous heroines of the Bible for wisdom and help them glean spiritual lessons that apply to their circumstances!

■ Beautiful Queen Esther risked her life to save her people, the Jews, from death – and in the process, found favor in both the Lord’s and the king’s sight.

■ Ruth, the widowed Moabitess, left her past behind, pledged her loyalty to her mother-in-law, and placed her faith in the one true God. As a result, she found a home with His people, a new life with her godly husband Boaz, and became a part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ!

■ The young Virgin Mary trusted in God’s promises and provision for her life, even though the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy threatened both her relationship with her fiancé and her reputation within the community. Because of her great courage, God honored her and allowed her to become the vessel through which the Savior of humanity was born.

Our daughters can learn so much from the amazing heroines of our faith. Even women whose lives aren’t perfect have much to teach us!

As they gain a deeper and more abiding understanding of who God is, our girls will begin to walk less in self-confidence, which is fleeting and situational, and walk more in God-confidence, which flows from their identity in Christ.

Walking in God-confidence enables our daughters to be courageous no matter what circumstances they face because they trust God to keep His promises. They know that God has their back. They believe that God is on their side.

If God is for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8:31 We want our daughters to know just how much God loves them and just how special they are. We want them to understand exactly who they are in Christ. We want them to comprehend that they were chosen before the foundation of the world to do good works for Him. We want them to understand that God has a unique plan and purpose for their lives.

Just like us, in order for our girls to grow in their relationship with God, they need to spend daily time in the Word and in prayer. Since these habits are most likely to flourish in our daughter’s lives if they see them exemplified in ours, it’s important that we place spending quality time with God at the top of our personal and family’s daily priority list.

Then, when our girls share the challenges they are experiencing in their lives, we can turn with them to the passages in the Bible that contain similar situations and issues to the ones they are facing, help them hear God speak to them through His Word, and teach them how to pray using the powerful words of Scripture.

We can also nourish their spirits by providing them with uplifting resources that inspire and encourage them in their daily walk!

Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You by Lynn Cowell is the perfect resource to share with tween girls who are struggling to find their identity, voice, and place in this world.

Written by a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and blogger, this Faithgirlz resource provides 8-12-year-old girls with 100 courage-building, conversationally written devotions that help our daughters establish their identity in who Jesus says they are.

The book is beautifully designed with all of the features that will speak to a young girl’s heart: engaging stories, inspiring prayers and Scriptures, fun quizzes, and lots of space for journaling!