Dare: to have the necessary courage or boldness for something; be bold enough

Today we’re going to look at the word bold. What does it mean? What does it mean in the context of daring? As I was studying the definition of ‘dare’ I noticed that ‘bold’ or ‘boldness’ is in almost every definition so I figured getting a better understanding of bold might aid in my journey to get a better understanding of what it means to dare.

(Bear with me for all this defining words stuff, when you break it down and unpack it, it makes a difference.)

Bold: 1) Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff.
2) Not hesitating to break the rules of propriety (established standards),
3) Beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action

There are so many thoughts that come to mind that I want to share, its hard to sort them out and organize them and pace myself but I think we’ll start here: Boldness isn’t easy. For me at least, its a struggle. Boldness conjures up a sense of ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m confident in this decision’, whatever that decision may be. And I’ll be very honest, 90% of the time, I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m not completely confident in the decisions I make.

Most people tell me this is a problem, I mean, it sounds like a problem right? You need to be sure of what you’re doing and you need to be confident in your decisions. Right? Stick with me while I: 1) make a very odd sounding statement, and 2) try and explain without sounding completely insane.

You don’t need to be 100% sure of what you’re doing and you don’t need to be 100% confident in your decisions.

I think we’ve taken the word bold, just like the word dare and so many other words, and we’ve given it our own personal definition, forgetting to look and see what it really means. The very definition paints a picture of risk, of struggle, of un-sure-ness, of daring.

In our world, specifically my generation, we place such high value on good decision making. Before deciding what school to attend, what job to take, who to marry, where to live, we have this system of standards that we consult. ‘This is the most logical option, this makes sense, I think I can handle this.’ We (for the most part) want to map out a plan, figure out the most practical option, decide what we believe we can and cannot do and then put the plan into action. We’re expected to know and seek out the answers to the unknown’s of our lives until we have it all known. Until we are confident in our decisions and know exactly what we’re doing.

My good friend Jordan gave me a book, Just Do Something by Kevin Deyoung. Click that link, buy the book, read it, be challenged. One of the things Kevin hits on in this book which I think is brilliant, is the fact that our generation is afraid to ‘move’. We are so caught up in making the right decisions that we spend all our time weighing the options and considering and trying to make sure we can handle the situation before we will make the decision. We are too afraid of making the wrong choice and so we don’t make any choice. Think about it. We are a generation that can’t ‘just do something’.

We are afraid of making the wrong choices. We are afraid when we don’t know. We are afraid of trying something that everyone says is crazy and then looking dumb when it doesn’t work. We are afraid of failing. And so we play it safe. We stick to what we know we can do and what everyone tells us is a good idea.

I think God calls us to a whole different level of living. If we have life mapped out, if we know exactly what we want to do and how we want to do it, and if we are 100% confident in our ability to accomplish it, then why do we need God? I think there is this whole other level of life that we could be experiencing but aren’t, and it’s because we wont move unless we are 100% sure of what we’re doing and 100% confident in our decisions.

I think we all have areas in our lives where we are playing it safe. These are the areas that we need to ‘dare’ in, and daring means that you have the necessary boldness to _____.If you are 100% confident in your ability in a certain area, then in my personal belief, you need to push yourself further.

I think we mix up boldness with confidence. We say that if we are bold that means that we are sure of ourselves, of what we are doing, and we are very confident in our decision to _____(whatever it may be). That’s not the definition! If we are bold, it means that we are ‘not hesitant or fearful in the face of real or possible danger or rebuff.’ Catch the difference there?

The true image of boldness being lived out is ‘I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea if this is going to work, but based on what I know, I’m willing to take the risk, here we go.’

Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Why are the righteous bold as a lion? Is it because they are more informed on life and have consulted professionals and come up with a sure-fire plan for their life? Hah. I wish!

Ephesians 3:12 “In whom (speaking of Christ) we have boldness, and access with confidence through our faith in Him.” We have boldness…IN CHRIST. How? In Christ we are promised to never be left or forsaken. In Christ we know that we have been bought, that we have been ransomed for His purpose which means that we have a purpose. In Christ our lives have value and meaning. In Christ we are loved and cherished above all creation. In Christ we are made righteous, we are adopted as sons and daughters of the living God. In Christ we are made heirs to the kingdom of God. Conjure up some boldness?

If we dwell on these things- on who we are in Christ, then we can be bold. We don’t have to be 100% confident in our ability, because we are 100% confident in his. We don’t have to be 100% sure of where we are heading, because we are 100% sure as long as we are seeking to follow in His steps we will get where we are supposed to be. We don’t have to be 100% sure before we try, because if Christ is our foundation, even if we hit rock bottom we will find ourselves in His arms, being held steadfast, and being stood back up to go at it again.

This DOESNT mean we sit and wait to be handed the answers, or wait to be given the right decision, or ‘pray about it’ a little more. And this DOESNT mean that we just jump into action without considering what we know. This means that when we don’t know, we can still act.

And this is important because we were never told that we would know in every situation. We are never promised all the answers in life. We are rarely promised to know the result before attempting something. But in Christ we have boldness, and we can say confidently ‘I don’t know, but we’re about to try…’

Dare to be bold.

~ by Rebecca Wattier on February 1, 2010.