DECEMBER 5, 2025

 “You cannot talk about grit. You have to embody it.

You cannot talk about faith. You have to live it.
You cannot talk about the desert. You have to cross it.” 
― Dragos Bratasanu, The Pursuit of Dreams

DANIEL 5-6

1It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”(6:1-5) 

1 JOHN 4

9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19We love because he first loved us. 20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

JOURNAL 

Scripture keeps hinting at something we often overlook. God built our bodies to respond to obedience. When I choose the thing I do not feel like doing, when I push through the resistance, lean into love instead of fear, and choose discipline instead of apathy, my body releases chemicals that reinforce truth. It is as if God hard wired joy, belonging, and purpose on the other side of those choices.

And when I think about it, scripture essentially says exactly that. Bratasanu’s words echo the pattern. You cannot talk about grit, you have to embody it. You cannot talk about faith, you have to live it. You cannot talk about the desert, you have to cross it. The reward is not before the choice. The reward is the choice. That is how God designed a human being.

Daniel is a perfect example. He did not rise because he coasted on talent or charm. He made daily choices that were repetitive, inconvenient, and countercultural. He chose to be trustworthy, steady, and incorruptible. The world around him felt threatened because that kind of faithfulness creates unmistakable evidence of God. Daniel did not wait to feel holy before he acted faithfully. He acted faithfully and holiness met him there.

John says the same about love. Love is not something we wait to feel. Love is something we do. And when we choose it, when we choose forgiveness over resentment, courage over fear, compassion over self protection, God’s Spirit responds in us. Chemistry and spirituality link arms. Perfect love drives out fear, not because fear evaporates, but because love overwhelms it with action.

Not long ago I was talking with a friend about how reading scripture every day can feel discouraging. It reminds me how far I drift from God and how quickly my mind slips into darkness or irritation or distraction. But strangely enough, that is where the miracle begins. Because when darkness enters and I still choose love, when I still choose responsibility, when I still choose obedience, that is evidence that God is alive in me.

Every day brings the same fork in the road. Trust God or trust fear. And daily I reach moments when my emotions do not want to cooperate. There are days when work feels pointless, when forgiveness feels unfair, and when even opening the Bible feels like lifting a thousand pounds.

But when I work anyway,
when I forgive anyway,
when I open the Word anyway,

God meets me there. Not just spiritually but physiologically. He rewards the movement toward Him with belonging, strength, clarity, peace, and joy.

It is His design.
It is His Spirit.
It is His love completing something in me that I could never manufacture on my own.

God’s love drives out fear because love is active. Love is lived. Love is chosen. And when I choose it, even imperfectly, it is proof that God lives in me and I live in God.

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

1 JOHN 4:7-8