How often have you heard a woman described bold, fearless, or brave? We hear these introductions when we consider women that we believe are influencers in business, finance, and the corporate world. We also use these same descriptors when we discuss women in ministry that have a marvelously miraculous testimony, powerful gifts, and audacious callings. We look at women in these arenas and decide they have something we don’t, right?
Lets focus on two words we perceive to be impressive qualities . Bold and Brave.
Do we understand the difference between being bold and being brave?
Bold is an adjective or an attribute of a willingness to take a risk. Boldness is the behavior of readiness to take a risk.
To be brave is a verb and an adjective . It is to face and endure difficulties. It is to possess the attribute and endure the challenge or difficulty.
Which one are you? Brave or Bold?
Boldness is a posture. Sometimes it’s a stance or even a look. Being bold is deciding I want something that God has planted in my heart. It’s having the audacity to believe I am worthy of the promises of God. To be bold is to know that I can do all that He has called me to do and has equipped me for the calling on my life.
Being brave is accepting the calling God has placed on my life without apology. Enduring the looks and sometimes judgment of others. Bravery is not only deciding I want something and have a desire to fulfil it in my heart but it’s going after it. It’s being obedient and walking out the steps of the promises of God.
Many of us would to like to believe that we are brave but really we just bold.
We know the calling God has placed on our life. We hear him speak to us and equip us. Yet, we shrink at the thought of what others may say about us and change our style or hide our gifts to fit in with what they say we ought to be. But to be brave is to do that thing God is showing you and being obedient despite what all the others say.
If we’re honest, “they” aren’t our biggest enemy. Believe It or not, “we” are our biggest enemy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sabotaged myself because I was afraid of taking the next step from bold, knowing I am worthy of the promises of God and the gifts He’s given me to being brave, obediently stepping into those promises. The bravery of enduring the challenges, the difficulties, and the realities that It may be hard to see my calling fulfilled is where I generally fall short.
Being bold is making a decision. Being brave is following through with your bold decision. It’s understanding that everyone won’t be able to see the vision God has given you or the calling He has placed on you. It’s knowing that you’ll be left out, left behind, or excluded because of your bold bravery. Being brave and bold means we continue to walk by faith into the spaces that don’t make sense to us but we continue to walk anyway. Obedience is hard. But I am discovering that I can do Hard things! You can do hard things!
Difficulties come and challenges are part of life. I should anticipate them, not run from them. I am learning to breath through them and push to the next level.
Lets be Bold and Brave. Lets be worthy and obedient.
Life with Charlotte! 