Every person is created by God, and within each person lies loads of potential. I think sometimes we forget how much potential we really have within us to become and to keep becoming the amazing people God made us to be.
The older we get we may tend to think that we’ve already reached our potential. We may hold the false notion that we are finished becoming, and now it’s time to just settle in…to coast. But let me encourage you today with this: You are never finished becoming. If you are still living and breathing, you are still full of potential.
The other morning I was perusing social media and was so encouraged by some young adults who, years back, I was blessed to serve as their youth pastor. I’ve known each of these young women since they were in either elementary or junior high. Now, they are either college students or college graduates, and each of them are beautiful examples of people who have chosen to tap into the potential God placed within them.
First, Lexus McCormick. I remember when Lexus first came to our church. She was shy about coming to youth group and didn’t seem to want to. But after some relentless encouragement, Lexus started coming. It wasn’t long before Lexus was showing herself to be a strong leader in the group. She is still leading within her campus ministry at UK, and has served as a youth intern at two churches, teaching and inspiring other young people. Lexus now also writes the most beautiful blog posts about God and her faith! She is a light for Christ and is still full of so much potential!
As long as I’ve known Lauren Garriott she has been singing and dancing. I remember all the youth group talent shows Lauren would participate in. Always performing. Always sharing with us what brought her the most joy. Lauren is now in New York City and is currently a member of the Broadway show A Chorus Line. She is fearless! I can’t even imagine what it must take to audition amidst so many other talented people, but she does it. She is constantly working to get better at what she does. She is beautiful and inspiring. And she is still full of so much potential!
And finally, Molly Nimmo. Again, I’ve known Molly since she was a fifth grader. Molly was always funny and joyful and you could just see that Molly was filled with oodles of potential. Molly lost her mom when she was in high school, and I think it’s a beautiful thing that Molly has embraced wholeheartedly the musical gifts she inherited from her mom. Molly is now touring the country (and world!) with her fiancé in their own band,The Wallens. I think they’re in Australia right now! Molly’s voice is so beautiful. She radiates peace. I’m so glad to see her tapping into the potential that was there all along!
There is so much inside us, isn’t there? There is so much God has placed in each of us. So much potential! So much capacity for beauty and creativity…for love, for growth, for maturity. God has placed beauty and strength and gifts in each of us. And he wants us to develop those and use those things to encourage others around us and glorify Him.
Look around you at the people who are tapping into those gifts and choosing to develop them. If there is that much potential in them, then there is that much potential in you! It’s going to look different, but it’s there. So you should be brave and you should just be yourself and develop and share what God has placed in you and called out in you. Let your own potential show and grow!
But here’s the rub—our potential can be squashed.
One way is through COMPARISON. If you compare yourself to others—your gifts to their gifts— if you look at how someone else is tapping into their potential and then compare where you are to where they are, you will more than likely squash your own potential.
Do not compare yourself to others! Be encouraged by others. Be inspired by others. But do not COMPARE yourself to someone else. You are uniquely made and God has put inside of you your own beautiful and special gifts. Be brave and develop those gifts. Let the Holy Spirit help you. Be your own beautiful person.
SELF DOUBT is another squasher of potential. When we doubt ourselves we are limiting the possibilities that exist with God! We are only looking at what we know currently and what we can see currently. But God is full of all the possibilities, so place confident trust in Him. Listen to Him. Follow Him. Believe what He says about you and bravely walk into all the beautiful possibilities and potential for your life that exist with Him.
And look, I don’t care how old you are. You are never too old to try something new. I am 45 years old and I just began a new thing when I walked into Avara Yoga for the first time last June. Yoga is a brand new practice I’m developing. And I’m discovering that I have strength and flexibility I didn’t know was possible for me. It’s a NEW thing! And I love it! Who knew? God knew, that’s who. And He knew it would bring me the health and strength that I needed. I’m thankful that He led me to it. And I’m so thankful that my yoga instructor, Meghan Fisher, chose to live into her potential by following her gifts and passions for yoga, and for helping others find health and wellness through the practice. (And it doesn’t hurt that she opened her studio right down the road from my house.) You see, where would we be if others didn’t choose to be their best self?
So, if you’ve been looking at your life with a limited vision and a limited perspective, you need to look with new eyes. Look at your life through God’s eyes. Ask Him to help you see the potential inside of you. Ask Him to give you the courage to work with Him on developing that potential. And then, as you grow, and as you become, do all of it for His glory.
Encourage others by being your beautiful self. Call out the gifts you see in others. Encourage them to tap into their potential. I promise you that God will not waste any of that effort.
Be brave, beautiful people! I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in and through you!
“For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Ephesians 2:10
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Follow Lexus’ blog at stillnessfearless.wordpress.com
Follow Lauren on Instagram @lmgarriott and follow A Chorus Line on Tour on Instagram @AChrorusLineonTour
Follow Molly Nimmo and The Wallens on Instagram @thewallensmusic
Follow Avara Yoga on Instagram @avarayoga and Megan Fisher on Instagram @MeghanKitchen