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Approved and verified accurate by the local outreach coordinator of the Office of Spiritual Life on May 21, 2025
Approved and verified accurate by the local outreach coordinator of the Office of Spiritual Life on May 21, 2025
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05/30/2025
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In today’s culture, boldness is often mistaken for volume. We’ve come to associate courage or boldness with those who are the loudest, post the most or dominate a room when they enter. But biblical boldness looks different. It doesn’t care about who is the loudest in a room. It cares more about the soul. Biblical boldness encompasses quiet strength, firm conviction and steady obedience. It is not about drawing attention to us but instead about drawing attention to our Creator through the way we are living.
When Jesus walked the earth, He didn’t care about being the center of attention. But even though that is true, His boldness was evident from everything He did and said. He stood up to religious hypocrisy, showed compassion to outcasts and laid down His life for sinners.
However, one important thing to note is that Jesus often retreated to somewhere quiet to talk to His father. He understood that no matter what chaos ensued from His teaching, He needed to take a break to really hear God. We see this pattern over and over during Jesus’ time on earth. Another way that He showed the need to be quietly bold was that He told people not to let Him be known after the miracles — He didn’t seek His own popularity with the people and He didn’t need to be praised for these feats. He only wanted to proclaim God’s name in the best way he could.
Being bold without being loud means living with integrity when nobody is watching, speaking truth with grace and compassion, and staying faithful in the small things. It means being unshakably rooted in God’s word and not being swayed by people’s opinions. It’s a quiet courage that doesn’t need a stage. It’s a heart fully surrendered to God.
Think about Daniel; he lived boldly by remaining faithful to God even in a foreign land when things got risky. He never shouted or protested, just remained faithful to God through prayer. And through his unwavering belief, God’s power and strength shined through. This shows us that God doesn’t need you to be loud and take center stage for His light and power to show through. He can work through anyone, even those labeled as quiet. And that’s not just a tolerance — it’s a preference. The Bible tells us multiple times that the wise man should be quiet, seeking refuge in God (Isaiah 30:15). While the wicked are loud, raging like the ocean during a storm, because they cannot be quiet (Isaiah 57:20). God invites His people to be quiet and attributes that quietness with strength, rest and finding a home in Him.
An important thing to note is the why of being quiet. Why should we want to be quiet? When we take the time to be quiet and remove the distractions of the world around us, that’s when we really start to hear God speaking to us. As we embrace moments of stillness, we experience a peace that cannot be found anywhere else. Many times, we forget to tune out the noise of the world to hear God’s voice, and it is very important to listen to what God is telling us. That’s when we experience growth in our faith journey.
In college, your boldness doesn’t have to look like preaching from the stage. It can look like showing up to class with character, being kind to your peers in any situation, praying silently for a friend and refusing to cheat even if everyone else is. That’s not being loud, but it is being bold. Bold enough to stand up for the morals that God teaches us to follow in our daily lives, even if it doesn’t make you the popular or fun one.
At Grand Canyon University, we strive to help you in your faith journey. Join a Life Group on campus to surround yourself with accountability partners who can help you as you learn to live more bold and less loud.
