What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done when no one was watching?
“The Bravest Kindness”
The bravest thing I have ever done—and still do—is to live in this fallen world according to the precepts of God. And the bravest of all is also the kindest of all: to walk the righteous path when the vast majority turn away; to empathise with lowly souls whom the world forgets; and to bear the fruit of the Spirit rather than the flesh. Yet how many souls truly see God and follow His ways?
From my earliest days of following Christ, I have never worried about how others saw me, nor have I paraded my kindness. To follow conscience and belief, and to do everything in good faith—that has always been the truest mirror of my life. I do care, however, about how the Father sees me, for His joy is my deepest wish.
Yet living on earth, one can hardly escape being watched by another. Being watched, or watching others, is woven into daily life. Still, no one sees through another’s soul—except God. He alone sees everyone inside out. But who has known the mind of the Lord? (Isaiah 55:9; 1 Corinthians 2:16).
Whether you are being watched or not does not matter. What matters is whether your heart is in the right place: whether you inflict injury on your enemies or render kindness to them; whether you turn a blind eye to the helpless or serve them like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). For those who crave self-seeking glory are not pleasing to God (John 5:44), since praise and admiration feed the desires of the flesh. To stand beyond that culture—that is what I regard as the bravest of the brave.
Scripture says the pure in heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8). A pure heart is attainable when the heart is in the right place—and when it sits rightly, I pursue the smile of the Father, not the applause or glory of this earth.
May my secret kindness bear fruit of eternal value. May the people who cross my path see God as the kindest and most loving Father, who desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). And may the lines below widen our bravest venture—beyond fear, beyond embarrassment, beyond the eyes that watch.
—
“Adjectives”
Brave or cowardly—two sides of a single coin,
One deed, yet words may paint it otherwise.
To fear nothing, be it good or ill—
That is not courage, but reckless will.
To question nothing, nor seek what is right—
Call it weakness? That is true might.
Adjectives are the speaker’s art—
They dress the outside, not the heart.
Courage needs no praise to stand,
Kindness fears no slander’s hand.
As water mirrors face to face,
So heart reflects heart in its grace.
The wise see worth not in words, but in living—
Through life itself, true knowing is giving.
—
en yan hua fang 