Pete Hegseth speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast
As you heard, as you heard President Trump talk about, we talk a lot about peace through strength.
At the War Department, we see ourselves as the Strength Department.
But we also need to remember that we derive our strength through faith and through truth
and through the Word of God. So to that end, here is a reading from the Holy Gospel,
according to Mark, chapter 8, verses 28 to 38, the Word of the Lord.
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
And on the way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him,
John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them,
but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered him, you are the Christ.
And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of
Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said,
get behind me, Satan. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of
man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, if anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save
his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man
give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory
of his Father with the holy angels. This is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the word of the Lord. So in this gospel reading, we hear Christ say, take up your cross and follow
me. Clearly, Christ was not simply sent to be a diplomat. He was a disruptor. His mission was
to divide truth from lies, the things of the world from the things of God, light from darkness,
good from evil. And like Christ, in earthly ways, our brave warriors are not called to appease the
world. They must confront it. We know we fight a physical battle, but ultimately grounded,
as the president said, in a spiritual battlefield. Not only are we warriors armed with the arsenal
of freedom, we ultimately are armed with the arsenal of faith and have been from the beginning.
Just as George Washington knelt in the snow at Valley Forge, appealing to heaven for guidance
and protection, so too are warriors do today. You see, we talk about 1776 and 250 years,
and that is rightfully fitting to do. But at the War Department, we're a bit of a 1775 department.
We know that you can't have the freedoms of 1776 without the willingness to fight
and defend it. And so, in that cause, we live the motto of our great nation,
in God we trust. The willingness to make sacrifices on behalf of one's country is born
in one thing, a deep and abiding belief in God's love for us and his promise of eternal life.
The passage says, for whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life
for my sake and the gospel's will save it. The warrior who is willing to lay down his life for
his unit, his country, and his creator, that warrior finds eternal life. His legacy will
not be one of loss, but of glory for a cause greater than himself. And to preserve the soul
of America, we must continue to wield not just the physical sword, but the sword of truth.
Unafraid and unabashed in this fight, we must remember every single day, especially,
especially in this town, that all power, all honor, and all glory belongs to our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Christ is king, and may God bless our warriors, may God bless our great
republic in these United States of America. Thank you very much.