The Gift of Fortitude

Have you have ever felt yourself so discouraged by your own inadequacies or angry at what others were demanding of you that you were at the point of giving up on serving God? He has a gift especially for you – that of fortitude. If you are Catholic, an apostle prayed over you for this gift and imparted it to you! You can draw on its power at any time, and God will refresh and renew you. Slow down! Wait upon God, and he will surely fill you with his power. Here is his special promise to you: “They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings. They will run and not grow weary; walk and not grow faint” (Is 40:31). I declare that promise over your life today as you read this article, as you open yourself to his precious gift of fortitude!

By definition “fortitude” is strength or power. When applied to human beings, it has come to mean the “strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.” But in the Judeo-Christian tradition, fortitude goes way beyond this limited definition. It represents an attribute of God that the person made in his image is able to acquire. Fortitude is a “moral virtue” – a power that put into practice, makes a human being a really good person; it makes the Christian a reflection of the beauty of Christ’s own fortitude. In fact, the fundamental aspect of any virtue is fortitude; it is the bedrock of being fulfilled, so much so that it is impossible to proceed along the path to any goodness at all without the virtue of fortitude.

But on another level fortitude is also a gift of the Holy Spirit (Is 11:2). That is to say, there is the virtue of fortitude, and then there is the gift of fortitude, which is different. The former is acquired by human effort, cooperating with divine grace; the latter is poured (infused) directly into one who believes and trusts in God. Each one has a distinct purpose: the virtue exists for being naturally fulfilled as a human being or in the case of a Christian, a “coming to full stature” in Christ; the gift is for docility to the Holy Spirit so as to accomplish the supernatural works that God has purposed for a believer’s life.

In this series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, let’s look at that gift which is fortitude. A study of the virtue can be for another occasion.

Fortitude as a Gift of the Holy Spirit

As a believer puts his or her faith in God, God himself becomes the stronghold of that person’s life. He clothes him/her with his mighty power to fulfill the supernatural purposes of life. And God provides all the perseverance needed to become a permanently holy person – in the power of the Holy Spirit himself! This is true no matter what obstacles are placed in life’s path.

The Gift of Fortitude in the Word of God

King David

A wonderful example of a person who walked in the strength of God was King David of Israel. In spite of his grave sins, he never gave up on serving God; rather he used his weakness as an opportunity to trust him even more. That is why the God calls David “a man after my own heart.”

In 2 Samuel 22: 1-4, we see this dependence brought to the fore, even after many military victories that could have fooled him into the prideful thinking that he was all-powerful.

David sang the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord had rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. This is what he sang:

O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock of refuge!
My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior, from violence you keep me safe. Praised be the Lord, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies.

The Person of God himself being David’s stronghold or fortress is another way of saying that God anointed him with the gift of fortitude. It became the theme of his life. In Psalm 59: 9-10, David sings, “O my strength! For you I watch; for you, O God, are my stronghold, my gracious God! May God come to my aid; may he show me the fall of my foes.” And in Psalm 29: 7-8, he proclaims,

The Lord is my strength and my shield … in him my heart trusts, and I find help; The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for his anointed one.

David’s insight and praise leads to the following conclusion: Fortitude is a gift, and it derives from the being of God himself.

St. Paul

From personal experience, Paul the Apostle knew what it meant to be brought so low that there was no alternative but to clothe himself with God’s fortitude if he was to be able to continue in the mission to which God had called him. Though a powerful man intellectually and physically, he knew weakness; and it was this emptying of that strong part of himself that proved the key to unlock God’s power. Jesus reveals to Paul in a moment of feeling helpless,

“‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12: 9- 10).

Thus he was able to say, “I have strength for everything through him who empowers me” (Phil 4: 13).

Nor was Paul a stranger to the diabolical “principalities and powers” who threw up every obstacle to the advancement of the Kingdom of God, which was the purpose of his life. The fortitude of God is not some magical “force-field” of protection; no, it was obtained through faith and manifested in the traits of a character deeply submitted to God. He exhorts,

“Draw your strength from the Lord, and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil… So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness … hold faith as a shield” (cf. Ephesians 6: 10 ff).

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb 11: 1). That “substance” is the presence of God himself who causes us to stretch out to the promises he has made to us. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews reflects on the heroes of the Old Testament, “who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders” (Heb 11: 32-37).

Conclusion: The New Testament reveals that the gift of fortitude is intimately related to faith, which is a shield. Faith is the gift of trusting not in your own self, but in God and what he has done in Jesus Christ. The Spirit’s gift of fortitude provides the believer with the strength that comes, not from our human self, but from God’s self. Its purpose is to empower the one who profoundly puts his/her trust in God to accomplish the supernatural purposes of God for his/her life; Fortitude enables one to extend the victory of Christ over the spiritual enemies of Satan and his kingdom of darkness, and the spiritual forces of iniquity, within and without.

The Gift of fortitude in the life of Jesus

Jesus, God’s Messiah, possessed all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. John the evangelist declares, “the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit” (Jn 3:34). Possessing the gifts of the Spirit, they sanctified Jesus’ humanity and enabled him to be docile to all the Spirit prompted him to do for the salvation of the human race. Jesus is our supreme model for receiving these gifts, allowing the Spirit to teach us about docility and obedience in God’s Kingdom. Each of the following incidences expresses Jesus’ fortitude and in faith can become a conduit of Spirit’s gift of fortitude for us. If we open our hearts to a greater faith, the moments in Jesus’ life will make us docile to God’s Spirit.

1. Lk 4: 1-14. After receiving the anointing (in-filling) of the Holy Spirit at the Jordan, the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the wilderness where he is put to the test by the Tempter. His resoluteness to follow the plan of the Father – to accomplish what the Anointing calls him to do – is directly challenged. He returns victorious from the Jordan “in the power of the Spirit.”

For the Christian: The Tempter comes at different points in life to detour a person’s calling to serve the purposes of the Kingdom of God. Fortitude empowers the person both to recognize diabolical strategies and remain faithful to the calling.

2. Mt 9: 9-13. Jesus calls the tax collector Matthew to be one of his disciples. There was a scandal in this. Jesus’ call to establish the Kingdom of God included people of bad reputation and persistent sinful habits. “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mt. 9:13). It was the Spirit’s gift of fortitude that enabled Jesus to hear this call in prayer, and then act in obedience to call the tax collector, considered to be the most despicable of all people. In the eyes of the religious world this was no way to start a successful movement or a church, yet it was the essence of his calling. Nor did Jesus yield to the temptation to seek popularity among important and influential people that would deviate him from what the Father wanted: the attitude of mercy toward sinners.

For the Christian: God’s call is most often “counter-cultural” and can easily involve the loss of a reputation, friends and influence in the world’s eyes. For the sake of the call, fortitude is bestowed by the Spirit to both hear the call above all the other interior and exterior ways of thinking, then to act in obedience, no matter what the consequences.

3. Lk 11: 20. “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then know that the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Diabolical powers are far superior to human, both in intelligence and in the ability to “steal, kill and destroy” (Jn 10:10). Jesus used the power of the Spirit of God (represented by the metaphor, ‘finger of God’) to establish the Kingdom in people’s lives by casting out demonic powers.

4. Lk 8: 22-25.   Jesus was about to go into a pagan territory across the Sea of Galilee. There was a spiritual battle brewing that involved “legion” – the territorial diabolical spirits under whose oppression the district was suffering in many ways. Crossing the lake a squall placed him and the disciples in peril. The demonic powers were attempting to impede him and prevent this confrontation; they wanted Jesus’ companions to turn back. Jesus was so strong, that he was at peace enough to be asleep! When the disciples in panic awakened him he “rebuked” the wind and the waves; they subsided and there was calm. The gift of fortitude enabled Jesus to be calm in the midst of the crisis and overcome the diabolical powers that were trying to impede his purpose.

For the Christian: Whether we like it or not, spiritual warfare is a necessary part of our lives, trying to oppress and detour us from the purposes of God; each one experiences this in different ways. Our human resources are in no way adequate for these battles, but St. Paul assures us, “although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying [enemy] fortresses” (2 Cor 10: 3-4). The gift of fortitude – together with faith – is the powerful weapon we have in Christ to remain calm (level-headed), establish order and persevere in battle with the Lord’s strength until victory is ours.

5. Lk 22: 41-46.  In the garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested, Jesus felt the weight of the sins of the world upon him, and he knew that his disciples would abandon, deny, and even betray him. “He was in such agony and prayed so fervently that his sweat became as drops of blood falling on the ground” (Lk 22: 44). His life and mission on earth was about to culminate in the cross and resurrection; he knew it. Never had he needed to depend on his Father as much as now. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (v. 42). Supernatural fortitude made the crucial difference for this moment.

For the Christian: At the moments of our lives when we are in deep pain because we have chosen to follow God’s will, we can be assured that the Father will send us the Spirit of fortitude to the degree that we abandon ourselves totally into his hands. Indeed, with faith and fortitude, our pain becomes purpose.

6. Lk 23: 42-43. On the cross Jesus forgives the repentant thief and makes sure he receives the glorious promise of being with him in Paradise. The cross was the cruelest form of torture, and even in the midst of that torture Jesus remains faithful to his mission to manifest God’s profound mercy. How could anyone do that? Humanly impossible, but with the fortitude of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible.

For the Christian: Being brought low, humiliated, even tortured, cannot stop us from being an instrument of the graciousness of God. Fortitude will ensure that we are not overcome; it will enable us to be faithful to God and his plan till the end.

With the gift of fortitude in life, the believer…

• Does all things necessary to lead a Christian lifestyle and be docile to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, especially when much effort is needed, when he/she is tired, or is tempted to slack off or give up.
• Overcomes whatever challenge to Christian life and service, whether originating from within or coming from outside of him/herself.
• Triumphs with God’s mighty power over diabolical trials, obstacles and difficulties instead of giving up in fear, weakness or cowardliness.
• Remains steadfast to the calling that has been received from God.
• Does not quench the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts; out of the interest to be docile to God’s will she/he remains docile and grows in the gifts knowing that these gifts are the means by which God’s Kingdom is supernaturally extended.
• Takes the initiative to face and overcome evil that is in his/her sphere of influence.
• Does not let him/herself be detoured, manipulated or compromised as to what is God’s will.

Forgives the faults of others; refuses to take revenge or reprisals.

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