Discussion Topic: Having Courage Isn’t Easy

Having Courage Isn’t Easy

Having courage is not always the easiest thing to do, nor is it without consequences.

Sometimes, when you have the courage to do what is right – you can still have problems. For example, when you tell the truth if you did something wrong, you may still get into trouble (but one would hope the punishment would be less than if you told a lie). However, telling the truth has a high reward from Allah – and that is what we must strive for. Another example is when you have the courage to tell your friend that you won’t do something that you know is wrong. That person may not want to be your friend any more. However, you must realize that in order to please Allah, we must try to seek out good friends. Friends who want us to do wrong bring harm to themselves and to us and cause Allah to be displeased with them.

Thus, the important thing to remember is that having courage to do what is right, at all times, has a high reward with Allah (and Allah’s rewards are great and plentiful unlike the temporary “rewards” of not having courage and doing what is wrong.) Besides, while lying or doing what your friends want you to do that is wrong may seem “rewarding” – they also are counted against you as bad deeds. We should always remember also that doing what is wrong makes the next bad deed even easier. While having the courage to do what is right may not always be easy – the rewards are greater that you or I can ever imagine.

Have your child make a list of times when your child will try to have courage (like the following). This may be especially helpful for older children:

I promise to have courage to:

* Tell the truth
* If I see something wrong happening, I will try to remind the people involved and (if necessary) fix it.
* Tell people ‘no’ when they want me to do something that is wrong