We Can Be Heroes...

People are always idolizing those whom they feel are heroic. They watch superhero shows, they listen to great tales of bravery in battle. In Les Miserables, soldier Thenardier carried Colonel Pontmercy to safety. Pontmercy implored his son Marius to find Thernardier and reward him. At the very moment that Marius found his father's rescuer, the man was in the act of doing evil to a very good man, and the adopted father of Marius' beloved. Because the man performed valiant acts in battle did not begin to make him a good man.
People can be heroic even if special circumstances do not come their way. Perhaps you think, if I were in battle, I could do something so heroic! Or perhaps you think, if there were no obstacles, then I could do something heroic!
A real hero is one who is guided by principle rather than circumstance. It is easy to sit on your couch and say you believe in right and good, when there are no obstacles to overcome. The true test of heroism comes in opposition. A true hero, a real superhero, is one with the courage to stand up for him or herself despite opposition.
Heroism takes many forms. It is simply to do what is right whenever the time comes to do it. Cassie Bernall was a hero when she looked straight at a boy with a gun and said, "Yes, I believe in God." Each of us can be a hero when a boss might say, "Hey, I want you to work on this (something compromising)" and we make the choice to say, "No." A woman has a chance to be a hero by staying faithful and supportive to her husband. A man has a chance to be a hero by loving his wife as Christ loved the church. A child has a chance to be a hero by obeying his or her parents. And a parent has a chance to be a hero by raising their children well. Every day, in some way or another, we each have our own chance to be a hero. Some days, it is a very small way, other days, it is something large and monumental.
I like the song, "Hero," by Enrique Inglesias. It speaks of a man who will do whatever he has to in order to be a hero to his true love.
Jesus was the ultimate hero in that he, perfect, blameless Son of God, suffered and died for us. Paul says, "For scarcely for a good man will someone die, though perhaps, for a righteous man, one would dare to die. But Christ demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." I once heard someone say that if each of us had to go through what Christ went through in order to save ourselves, probably almost no one would do it. Yet Jesus did it, not for Himself, but for us!