Dictionaries define courage variously. In the faith framework, we can define courage as a willingness to act according to honest reason.
Courage is nothing more and nothing less than preferring reason to the senses. It is to do something for mental reasons in spite of negative physical sensations. It is to act toward a rationally expected end in spite of the presence or expectation of fear, pain, grief, anxiety, depression, or sorrow. It is to persist in a well-reasoned path no matter how far away the desired outcome is in time, appearance, or experience.
One way of living courageously is: Do everything that is worth the cost. Due to limits on resources, this probably also implies: Don’t do anything that isn’t worth the cost.
Courage, as defined here, is one and the same as trust in God. Trust in God is not some kind of superstitious willpower, despite the vast number of people whose beliefs limit it to that. Trust in God is a rational affair: do you have sufficient reasons to believe? If so, are you willing to follow them in action and desire, even when it requires actively changing how you feel about the issue at hand? Are you willing to reframe your perception of reality according to the evidence you possess? Or do you choose to embrace what your experience has shown is not true?
Some describe courage as an ability. Some describe it as a quality. In reality, it is a choice. Anyone can choose to be courageous.
The choice is not an optional one. Normal people consider courage an admirably rare trait. In reality, courage ought to be as common as breathing, as it is just as essential to a successful life. While ceasing to breathe requires contradicting what is quite the natural impulse, the exercise of courage requires doing what most people choose not to do. It is not automatic, and it is not easy, but it is absolutely essential.
It is impossible to have great faith without great courage. Great faith will consistently lead you in paths that require courage.
The receipt of the benefits of the rational process almost always rely on the exercise of courage. What feels good is only sometimes what is actually good. Were it not so, the rational process would yield no benefit over sentimentality, whereas in reality it is the distinction between the natural man and the spiritual man. Because our feelings have no obligation to follow reality—and even tend to do quite the opposite— courage is the conduit to achieving a higher order life than what could be obtained otherwise.
Courage and reason reinforce each other. Courage is needed when the cost benefit is not solely sensory. The rational process most clearly defines both cost and benefit outside the realm of the physical senses.
Courage is strengthened with the perceived worthiness of the cause, while the rational process provides concrete arguments for a cause’s worthiness. Courage drives action, which increases observations, which fuel further analysis with reason.
Courage is self-reinforcing. The more you trust God, the more he will prove himself worthy of your trust. As you trust him more and more, you will find yourself more and more willing to trust him in all things. He will never give you any reason not to trust him. He will never fail you.