Risk

Faith is God inspired risk taking. God expects us to obey his commands, some of which are either risky or don't make sense from a worldly standpoint. He says: seek first the kingdom of God (put the kingdom before self-Matthew 6:33); lose your life for his sake (Luke 9:24); deny yourself (Luke 9:23); give money/talents/time to the church and the less fortunate (2 Corinthians 9:7); and turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) when people persecute you. We may risk our reputations, our friendships, our material wealth, possibly our health and even our lives. If someone truly believes in Jesus as his Lord, that person will be obedient. Even though he struggles with living out the application...dying to self....the long-- slow-- death-- of self. The struggle to mold the will to make it conform to God's will for us and the sacrifice that follows an obedient decision leads to perseverence and perseverence to character and character to hope (Romans 5:3-4). Courage is doing what is "right" despite fear. The Christian is courageous in his faith. As God said to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous." (Joshua 1). Faith produces God inspired risk taking.