Dragon Slayer Virtues

Humility is first and foremost an orientation toward God. 1 Peter 5:6 tells us to, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” One of the ways we demonstrate humility toward God is placing ourselves underneath the authority of God’s word and diligently keeping God’s precepts. The sum of God’s commandments is to love God and love neighbor. So in addition to a proper orientation toward God, humility also has a proper orientation toward others. As Philippians 2:3 commands, “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

True humility prevents us from being pushovers and people pleasers because our ultimate aim is to honor God. So at times when there is a choice between pleasing God and pleasing others we must embody courage.

Courage is the willingness to act in obedience to God even when those acts are not popular. Or as C.S. Lewis says, “Courage is not simply one form of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” Courage is what enables us to be truly virtuous even when circumstances are frightening.

This marriage of humility and courage is what caused Daniel not bow in prayer to false gods and what allowed Nehemiah to build the walls of Jerusalem against all kinds of opposition. The ultimate demonstration of humility and courage is when Jesus went to the cross according to the Father’s will for the sins of God’s people. So in imitating Christ, a Dragon Slayer will embody both humility and courage as they live according to God’s word and in line with God’s purposes.