A small sheet of paper hangs above my daughter’s desk. A hand-drawn ribbon ties a bow across the top of its frame. Inside, in bold, rounded letters, are words from Dolly Parton:
I found it this weekend in Nashville. I spent Parents Weekend at Belmont University with my daughter, Jarah, and I got to be there at a moment this city will never forget. Dolly went home to be with the Lord on August 25th. Her nephew said it best: “Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus.” Friday, September 25th (9/25), was declared Dolly Parton Day in her honor because it’s a playful nod to her hit song and 1980 film 9 to 5. Dolly partnered with Belmont on many projects over the years, so the celebration didn’t feel distant on that campus. It felt personal.
I read those words twice. Then I looked at my daughter.
Jarah turned nineteen on September 19th, just days before Dolly Day. Four years ago, I wrote a post celebrating her fifteenth birthday. I told you then that her name, which has Arabic roots, carries the meaning of boldness and bravery. Now here she is, far from home, chasing her calling, with Dolly’s words about bravery hanging over her desk. God has a sense of humor. He also has a sense of timing.
Everyone knew who Dolly was. Everyone knew what she stood for, and people loved her for it.
That is rare. Most of us assume we have to choose. Either stand for something and lose people, or stay vague and keep them. Dolly refused that choice. She treated everyone with dignity, and she never hid the foundation she stood on.
That foundation was her faith. She grew up in the Smoky Mountains, one of twelve children, the granddaughter of a preacher. Decades later, with the whole world watching, she still said it plainly: “I am a person of faith.” When fame tempted people to put her on a pedestal, she pushed back with Scripture: “I don’t want to be worshiped, because there’s a scripture in my Bible that talks about idol worship.” And her Imagination Library has put more than 300 million books into the hands of children. That is faith with its sleeves rolled up.
Dolly’s bravery wasn’t bravado. It flowed from knowing who she was because she knew Whose she was.
Knowing God Shows Up in What You Do
This morning’s reading in The Family Wins Devotional took me to a hard but necessary verse:
“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient.” (Titus 1:16)
Good works cannot save you. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5) But the absence of good works can quietly deny what you claim to possess. God saved you not by good works, but for good works. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
John Calvin put it sharply. Trying to justify yourself by outward works is like covering a heap of filth with a clean linen cloth. The cloth looks fine. The heap is still there.
So here is the order. In the matter of becoming a Christian, it is not what you do, but whom you know. Then what you know shows up in what you do. People may be fooled for a time by your profession. God is never fooled.
That’s why bravery starts with knowing God. You can’t be brave for long on adrenaline or feelings. You can only be brave for a lifetime on a foundation.
Brave Enough to Swim Against the Current
Knowing God will put you at odds with the cultural current. Count on it.
Our culture says feelings should chart our course. It sells half-truths as gospel: your feelings define your identity, your emotions are beyond your control, and love is whatever label we choose to put on it. Each holds a sliver of truth. Each, followed all the way down, leads somewhere dark.
The Bible charts a different course:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a)
Notice where the transformation happens. In the mind. Our minds must rule our emotions, and God’s Word must rule our minds. That makes a person contrarian in the best sense. Not contrary for sport. Anchored in truth while the current rushes past.
It means putting love in its proper order: God first. Others second. Myself third. Living it is like running the back half of a marathon in the heat of summer. It’s hard. It’s worth it.
Now, a warning, and I need it as much as you do.
It is possible to swim against the current and become bitter doing it. It is possible to be right and be cruel. That’s not bravery. That’s just another way of feeding the wrong wolf.
The antidote is dignity. Every person you will ever meet is worthy of honor and respect. Not because they agree with you. Not because they earned it. Because God put it there.
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female, he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
C.S. Lewis said it this way: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” The coworker who votes differently than you. The student across the hall from my daughter who sees the world another way. Each one bears the image of God.
My maternal grandfather, Makeul (Essey) Hanna, understood this. He came through Ellis Island from Damascus, Syria, in 1920 and eventually ran a Maytag repair shop in Donora, PA. He treated every customer who walked through his door with dignity. He believed every person was made by the same God who made him. That truth is also why racism is what it is: a sin against the God whose image every person bears.
Scripture calls us to hold conviction and compassion in the same hand: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)
Dolly showed the world that conviction and kindness can share the same stage.
Power, Love, and a Sound Mind
If you carry one verse this week, let it be this one:
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Power to be brave, to know God and say so when it isn’t popular.
Love to treat every person with dignity, because they are made in the image of God.
Self-discipline to let a renewed mind rule your emotions.
Timidity is not humility. Contempt is not courage. Two wolves are fighting inside you. One says go with the current, or fight everyone who disagrees with you. The other says know God, stand firm, and love your neighbor as you stand. The one that wins is the one you feed.
You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try. So try.
Start by knowing God. Not knowing about Him. Knowing Him. Give Him the first fifteen minutes of your day. If you don’t know where to start, that’s exactly why I wrote The Family Wins Devotional. Get your free copy at MindWolves.
Then let what you know show up in what you do. This week, stand firm in one place where the current is pulling you. And treat one person who sees the world differently with the dignity of an image-bearer. Listen first. Speak with gentleness and respect.
As I hugged Jarah goodbye, I thought about that little sheet of paper above her desk. Her name means brave. Her God makes her brave. I pray she lives the full, brave life He made her for.
I pray the same for you.
Feed the Good Wolf. 🐺