Healing = COURAGE + Action + Grace ~ Part Two

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 2014, and it is called "Healing = Courage + Action + Grace" by Jonathan G. Sandberg. This post is part two. I would like to share with you some highlights whilst I was reading the Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to read something new whilst reading through this post. 

Jonathan has mentioned the following; "Courage

... Simply defined, true “courage is not the absence of fear; it is the making of action in spite of fear.”  In order for healing to occur, we have to be courageous enough to move forward when we are afraid. I have chosen three examples in which courage is needed for healing to occur.

First, we have to be courageous to face the truth regarding what needs to change in our lives. This type of intense introspection requires tremendous honesty with ourselves. As Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32; see also 2 Nephi 28:28), but that is usually only after it hurts us first. ... It takes courage to be honest with ourselves.

Second, it takes tremendous courage to be congruent to live a life in which our public and private priorities are in sync and in which what we experience on the inside is consistent with what we show on the outside. ... As James in the New Testament said, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). 

"Fear is a reaction. Courage is
a decision." - Winston S. Churchill.

... I had to figure out what I believed not what my parents had said was right or the Church or my employer, but what I believed was right. I had to get right between God and me. 

Then I had to learn to live congruently so that my actions were in harmony with my moral beliefs which took courage. But oh, how refreshing it is to live a life of integrity! Healing requires the courage to find out that what we believe is true and live according to that truth. 

As the therapist Brené Brown has astutely observed: Trying to co-opt or win over someone ... is always a mistake, because it means trading in your authenticity for approval.

You stop believing in your worthiness and start hustling for it. I have learned over the years that posturing, posing, peacocking, and pretending are exhausting and bring unhappiness. Having the courage to be congruent brings a settled and peaceful feeling. ...

Third, we have to develop the courage to live counter to the world’s dominant culture. ... We live in a world in which appearance and approval are the keys to social status and power. In order to find healing, we have to develop the courage to say no to this dominant culture.

I love what Morrie Schwartz said to Mitch Albom about living counter to the culture in the book Tuesdays with Morrie: The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We’re teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own. 

... In two devotionals given last year, both Tyler J. Jarvis and Kristin L. Matthews encouraged us to be more accepting of our imperfections and to be more pleased with our best approximations, our bodies, our gifts, and

our differences. I encourage you to reread their talks. 

... President Thomas S. Monson said ... "Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. ... A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh."

... Marjorie Pay Hinckley described the peace that comes when we refuse to compare and despair, as the dominant culture teaches: Fifty was my favorite age. It takes about that long to learn to quit competing to be yourself and settle down to living. It is the age I would like to be through all eternity! 

In order to find healing, we have to develop the courage to avoid the culture that says there is only one acceptable way (i.e., a specific size, hair color, or ACT score) to be a good person or even a good Christian. There are many, many ways to be a righteous, positive influence in the world. If enough of us say no to the dominant culture, it will lose its power (see Joshua 1:9)."

Stay Tuned until next time.