Loyalty is important to me. I tend to be very loyal to the people and organizations I trust. I also greatly value loyalty in those with whom I serve.

As Jonathan led a high-risk raid on a Philistine outpost (see the “One Act of Courage” post), he was accompanied by a loyal armor-bearer. When Jonathan described his audacious plan, the armor-bearer responded, “Do all that you have in mind. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul” (1 Sam. 14:7). As we seek to build strong families, teams and organizations, may we have the same kind of commitment to one another: “I am with you heart and soul.”

The Philistines clearly outmatched the Israelites in 1 Samuel 14. In fact, in the previous chapter, we learn that Saul and Jonathan were the only Israelites with a sword or spear (1 Sam. 13:22). In the midst of this hopeless situation, one act of courage changes everything. Jonathan and his young armor-bearer scale a cliff to attack a Philistine outpost, killing some 20 soldiers in the process. But that wasn’t all that happened. We read in 1 Samuel 14:15, “Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.”

One act of courage started a chain reaction, which ultimately led to the rout of the entire Philistine army. One of my favorite Theodore Roosevelt quotes speaks of this kind of courage:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Know any situations that could use an act of courage today?

I don’t like to wait when I see a great opportunity or a perplexing challenge. I want to seize the opportunity or address the challenge now.

King Saul was in a predicament (1 Sam. 13:1-15). He faced a huge Philistine army. His own forces started to desert as they waited for Samuel to arrive to offer sacrifices to God on their behalf. Faced with a huge military threat and a shrinking army, Saul took the initiative and offered the sacrifices himself. To be honest, I might have done the same thing. As soon as Saul finished offering the sacrifices, Samuel arrived and rebuked Saul for acting foolishly. Saul’s impatience led to disobedience. Patience truly is a virtue that every leader must cultivate who desires to follow the Lord.