The Courage to Grow
Challenge & Expansion
Scripture
Proverbs 27:17
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Devotion
Growth requires friction. Without challenge, we become dull. God brings people, circumstances, and difficulties into our lives that sharpen us. These are not punishments but gifts. The person who challenges you most may be the one who helps you most. The circumstance that stretches you beyond your comfort zone is the one that grows you. The Stoics celebrated this friction. They saw obstacles not as signs that they were on the wrong path but as the very things that would refine their virtue. In a life without friction, virtue never develops. You become like a blade that has never been sharpened—dull and ineffective. Embrace the friction. It means you are becoming someone stronger.
Today’s Step
Where is friction happening in your life? Rather than avoiding it, thank God for it. Ask what it is teaching you. How is it sharpening you?
Prayer
God, help me to welcome the friction in my life that is polishing me. Give me courage to face challenges that stretch me, to engage with people who sharpen me, and to grow through difficulty. Instead of avoiding what is hard, help me to embrace it as an invitation to maturity and strength.