Christian Courage

1:14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear

Having spoken of the effect his imprisonment had had upon his captors, Paul now turns to its effect upon the Christians in Rome. His chains have infused the Roman believers with "far more courage" to proclaim the gospel than before. These saints were emboldened as they watched Paul standing firm in the faith and making known the gospel even while in chains.

There are three lessons about boldness here that come to mind.

1 - God wants all of His people to be courageous in speaking His word. This is not the first place we have seen Paul’s great zeal with regard to the spread of the gospel. But here we see that Paul’s ambition to proclaim Christ does not stop with himself. He is anxious for all of God’s people to be bold in evangelism. Fearlessness is a virtue God desires for all of us, not just a few who have "the gift of evangelism."

2 - Boldness is contagious. It seems that it was Paul’s inspiring example of proclaiming Christ even while in chains that instilled this evangelistic courage in the Roman believers. This is so often the case. Evangelistic fervor usually comes as a result of the influence of another believer who is more bold than we are. If we keep this in mind, we can advance our own zeal by putting ourselves under the influence of bolder Christians; and we can inspire others to become more bold by our example of boldness.

3 - Boldness is a result of trusting in God. The change that was wrought in the hearts of the saints in Rome that moved them to this new boldness was trust in God. And trust in God is the needed ingredient in our quest to become Christians radiant with the gospel in our lives and in our words. When one trusts in God, he stops fearing men. And we can only start really loving men when we’ve stopped fearing them.

O God my Father, forgive me for how much I care about what people think of me. Forgive me for how I have failed to love people because I was afraid of their rejection. Help me to trust You, convinced that I need no other security and approval but Yours. I submit myself to You to be Your tool. Unleash Your power in me, that, trusting wholly in You, I might be Your bold and loving messenger, even inspiring Your people by my example.