“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But to the cowardly…(Rev 21:7-8a)”

Somehow “cowardly” seems out-of-place in the forbidden list that follows. Cowardice seems to be a close cousin of meekness and humility. What then is truly behind being cowardly?

Giants arise in our lives that loom very big and threatening. We cower, hide, and want to run away in fear. This all seems like such a natural response, but a spirit that cowers is not pleasing: “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). If fear is a spirit, it is not one we want to give any room. On the other hand, the environment of God’s Spirit sends forth love accompanied by power and self-discipline. Healthy love will not flow out, nor be received as healthy, to another out of a timid spirit that cowers before them.

Where we are timid, we should acknowledge before God. “God preserves the faithful…Be strong, and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (Ps 31:23). Faithfulness and courage would draw God’s preservation, while cowering and hiding would merely be our own selfmade means of preservation.

Stand tall, for when we take courage, we are trusting God alone to preserve us. Let us put down those defenses of cowardness because our hope is in God. We can then exercise our God-given right to be strong and take heart! (Ps 31:24).