Heroes: Conquerors of Darkness

Many characteristics define what it means to be a hero. Duty, honor, courage, and a willingness to defend the weak are several things that come to mind. However, how does one exercise these concepts? How does one defend the weak? Do you have a hero in you? These are just some questions I’m going to try and answer. So let’s roll.

Duty

When looking for answers on how to be a hero, I believe it’s best to go to the book that tells the story of the Greatest Hero of all time; that being Jesus Christ. So let’s start looking up what the Bible says about the characteristics I mentioned above. Let’s begin with duty.

Now wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a scripture that told us our entire duty and put it in a nice neat package for us to digest. Well, that’s exactly what the Holy Bible does. Let’s take a look.

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

So the first step in becoming a hero is to fear God and keep His commandments. Makes sense to me. Stay in line with the Master and we’re on our way to becoming a hero.

Honor

Now I find it very interesting that our next step to becoming a hero falls in line with duty, because it actually involves keeping the commandments. One such commandment is to honor your father and mother (Exo 20:12). Now here’s where it really gets good. This commandment comes with a promise that God will bless you with longevity.

Eph 6:2-3 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Makes sense to me. If we’re going to be heroes, we need staying power. After all, if some joker takes us out when we’re trying to save the day, we’re not really accomplishing much on the path to being a hero.

Courage

Now we all know that in addition to courage, every successful hero needs a partner. So let’s see if the Bible says anything about courage and having someone that comes alongside us…

Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Isn’t that amazing? We are to be of good courage, but we’re not left hanging. We get the perfect companion to help us in our heroic endeavors. The Lord Himself!

Defending the Weak

So everything seems to be coming together, but now we need purpose. We need to put these heroic abilities to good use. Again, we have to look no further than the Holy Bible for instruction.

Psalm 82:3-4 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Wow, sounds like an awesome calling to me. Looks like we’ve got everything we need to become true heroes.

The Greatest Acts of Heroism

The greatest act of heroism of all time was Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. Our Hero was nailed to a cross at Calvary so that we could escape the darkness and have eternal life. In exchange, the greatest act of heroism we can exercise is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are enslaved by the darkness. This is the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). This is your mission. Are you ready?

Final Thought

Friends, there are many opportunities in our world for heroism. Everyday people such as police officers, firemen, and soldiers put their lives on the line to protect others. However, anybody can be a hero. Anybody can save a life. Start exercising your faith and sharing the gospel with others. Sure, it can seem intimidating at times, but have courage. Bringing someone to Christ is not only heroic, but it gives someone an opportunity for eternal life that they might not have had if you would’ve just walked on by. Duty, Honor, Courage, Defending the Weak…Let’s do it! Are you in? Thank you for reading and God bless.

What are some steps you can take towards becoming a hero?