It took lots of courage for King to continue leading, and we
see his call for courage in the midst of continuous danger.
“Courage,” he said, “is an inner resolution to go forward in spite
of obstacles and frightening situations.” Clearly, he constantly
experienced both, even dying for his cause.
It’s not hard to imagine King in “frightening situations” men-
tally repeating his own statements about courage, statements that
are like a drumbeat of affirmations to strengthen resolve.
“Courage breeds self-affirmation; cowardice produces destruc-
tive self-abnegation.”
“Courage faces fear and thereby masters it; cowardice
represses fear and is thereby mastered by it.”
“Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though
their life situation is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed
by the uncertainties of life lose the will to live.”
King was well aware that the alternative to courage was cow-
ardice, and he was not afraid to name it. In fact, there is power in
naming these opposites, courage and cowardice, and then deter-
mining to choose the first.
Said King, “We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold
back the flood of fear.”
King led with enormous courage, though he surely felt “the
flood of fear.” We may not face challenges as dangerous or tragic,
but we can apply his drumbeat of affirmations to a wide range of
our own leadership challenges.
Fear the Right Things
The word couragecomes from a Latin word for “the heart.” It
shows what we are at the core.
Billy Graham has always found sound advice about courage in
the Bible. “God has not given us the spirit of fear,” it says, “but of
love, power, and a sound mind.” Angels in the Bible are quick to
call for courage.
“Fear not,” Gabriel said to teenaged Mary when he told her
she would soon be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham