Circle of Trust

Last week we started this FORGED journey by talking about Strength — not gym strength, not image, but the strength to bear weight.
To carry responsibility.
To not collapse when life sets burden on your shoulders.

But strength isn’t the whole story of a man.

Strength is capacity.
But today we step into something different: Courage.

And this is where Don Ross hits hard in his book How to Be a Man.

Ross says courage is not the loss of fear. He says courage is acting even when fear is loud.
It’s choosing what is right, not what is comfortable.
It’s obedience to purpose when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.
It’s stepping forward when everything in you wants to pause, delay, or hide.

Many men — in our culture today — were never taught that.
We were taught comfort.
We were taught safety.
We were taught to avoid what makes us afraid.
And then we wonder why courage feels rare.

We’re rediscovering what a man is — and courage has always been one of the defining marks.

Look at history, Scripture, stories — the courageous man isn’t the one who felt brave. — He’s the one who moved anyway.

Today’s workout was designed for that.

Bear crawl up a hill?
Nobody wants to do that.
Army crawling under tables?
Nobody likes that position.
Up-and-over obstacles?
Every instinct says, “Find an easier way.”

Burpees at the end of the 11s?
Fear. Resistance. Discomfort.

But courage is exactly that:
doing the thing you don’t want to do — because it is the right thing to do.

That’s how Don Ross frames it.

You don’t wait for courage to arrive.
You choose it.
And when you choose it, your fear loses authority over your life.

Strength carries the weight.
Courage moves with it.

You cannot be a man of meaning without courage — not in your marriage, not as a father, not in your faith, not in leadership, not in your convictions.

The challenge for this week is simple:
Identify the place where you’ve been hesitating.
Where you’ve been waiting for the “right feeling.”
Where fear or discomfort has been making your decisions.

And then — step forward.
Not recklessly.
Not impulsively.
But intentionally.
Decisively.
Courageously.

Because a man is not just someone who can carry weight.
A man is someone who can move into the unknown with conviction.

Strength was last week’s pillar.
This week — we walk with courage.
Next week, we’ll build on top of that.
Stay in it, men. We are being forged.”