In Acts 4, the Bible talkers about John and Peter, two ordinary, uneducated men. They came to a town to speak about Jesus and the miracle He performed. Jesus made a 40 year old lame man walk. However, in the town of Sanhedrin, the teachers and officials were unhappy about John and Peter openly professing their faith and teachings of Jesus, so they threw them in jail. When John and Peter were told to stop spreading the word of Jesus by the officials, they told them no.

“The officials were amazed to see how brave Peter and John were, and they knew that these two apostles were only ordinary men and not well educated. The officials were certain that these men had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13

Peter and John, not knowing what would happen to them if they didn’t stop speaking the truth about Jesus, did it any way. They were brave enough to stand up to these men who ere of higher education and class than them, because of Jesus.

Seeing others be brave, makes me want to be brave. In 100 Days to Brave, Downs writes: There is something super powerful about putting brave on display-in your life, in the lives of the people you love, in the art you see or read or hear. When we see brave out in the world, it inspires us, doesn’t it?”

It really does. Think about the moments in your life when you read something fantastic, or hear a beautiful song, or see an incredible movie. That feeling when your chest gets tight, goosebumps cover your arms, and water floods your eyes…that’s what inspiration feels like. But we have to do more than just feel it. We need to recognize that we are feeling it, and act on it as well. Share your brave and actively look for it so when you find it, you are prepared to act on it.

Courage is around us all the time-in the arts, in our people, in us. Use the courage you see and find in the world and mean on it. Use the brave if others around you, whether real people, characters in a book or movie, the feeling a painting evokes, and channel it into your own brave.

Sometimes we need to be reminded to be brave, and that’s okay. That is still a huge learning process for me. I like being independent. I don’t like asking for help or feeling like a burden to others. But being reminded to be brave is okay. Because there will be times when YOU are the person reminding others to be brave. It’s like being on a plane. In the even the oxygen masks drop, they always tell you to help yourself before anyone else. Why? You can’t help others if you’ve already passed out.

So, be brave…and when you see someone else be brave, write something brave, paint something brave, etc., SAY SO. Acknowledging that you see them, and you see their bravery will help them be brave in the future, and it will help you be brave too.