Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
You ask prayer for your son’s confidence, but consider well what true confidence is. The boldness that springs from home and familiar faces is no virtue, for even the timid find safety among those they love. The confidence that pleases God is that which, like the Apostles, speaks with freedom in the face of strangers and adversities, not because the soul is naturally fearless, but because Christ is its strength. Your child’s reserve when he goes out is but the flesh’s weakness, common to our nature; yet even this can become an occasion for grace if you teach him early that the Lord goes with him everywhere, and that no place is outside the shelter of His wing.
Why should a Christian soul ever be cramped with shame? Did not the Apostle say, “In nothing shall I be put to shame, but with all boldness Christ shall be magnified”? That boldness is a fruit of the Spirit, not a temper of the blood. Nurture your son’s soul with the food of holy fear: let him see you yourselves unshaken before the world’s eyes, gentle and yet immovable, that he may learn boldness not from applause but from the Cross. When he is older, place before him the example of the young Timothy, who needed Paul’s encouragement to be “without fear” among the Corinthians. Even the fervent may tremble, but love for Christ casts out that trembling. Presently, his little heart is tender; do not fret over this season. Rather, fill his ears with psalms, his eyes with your own calm faith. As the body grows, so shall the soul expand, and the confidence you seek will come, not as a noisy self-display, but as a quiet radiance, seeing everywhere an opportunity to speak and live for the Lord.
Pray, then, and as you pray, teach him that his true home is the Church, his true family the communion of saints. A child grounded in that confidence fears no strange face, for he knows himself always before the Face that loves him. Be not anxious over outward demeanor, but over the inward anchor. This I plant in your minds: to train a bold Christian is to train one who, whether at home or abroad, in peace or in peril, stands fast, having nothing to lose and Christ to gain.
Why should a Christian soul ever be cramped with shame? Did not the Apostle say, “In nothing shall I be put to shame, but with all boldness Christ shall be magnified”? That boldness is a fruit of the Spirit, not a temper of the blood. Nurture your son’s soul with the food of holy fear: let him see you yourselves unshaken before the world’s eyes, gentle and yet immovable, that he may learn boldness not from applause but from the Cross. When he is older, place before him the example of the young Timothy, who needed Paul’s encouragement to be “without fear” among the Corinthians. Even the fervent may tremble, but love for Christ casts out that trembling. Presently, his little heart is tender; do not fret over this season. Rather, fill his ears with psalms, his eyes with your own calm faith. As the body grows, so shall the soul expand, and the confidence you seek will come, not as a noisy self-display, but as a quiet radiance, seeing everywhere an opportunity to speak and live for the Lord.
Pray, then, and as you pray, teach him that his true home is the Church, his true family the communion of saints. A child grounded in that confidence fears no strange face, for he knows himself always before the Face that loves him. Be not anxious over outward demeanor, but over the inward anchor. This I plant in your minds: to train a bold Christian is to train one who, whether at home or abroad, in peace or in peril, stands fast, having nothing to lose and Christ to gain.
