There are certain words that I love: potential. It’s what we are capable of becoming. Your potential for your future is not what you are or where you are today. Regardless of your age or your state of life, you still have potential. It may be a passion or ability that has not yet been developed; you are full of possibility and potential. The simple fact that you are reading this blog tells me that you have the desire to reach your potential. The question is how?
In the last few days of this blog I have been writing about how you must pursue your passion and you must focus that passion with a clear life vision. You must know what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You must see the destination that you are working to reach. Otherwise you risk the danger of unfulfilled potential. No words could be sadder than those. As much as I love the word potential and as much as I believe that you are full of potential, nothing is more heartbreaking than to think that people often choose to take their potential to their grave – unfulfilled. That is not the life that God has for you. Jesus said that He came to give you a “rich and satisfying life”; that is to say a life that is living out and living in your potential – your God given potential. You are His masterpiece, living your potential is all about living as His masterpiece. I explored this extensively in my book Life Palette.
While God has created you as His masterpiece, you give Him the palette to work with. This is your part of releasing the potential that He has place within you, even as you read this you feel it burning in your heart. A clear life vision is so important on your Life Palette for you to fulfill your potential. In yesterday’s blog I wrote about how passion fuels vision and your vision must be fueled with focused passion. Vision and passion are the launch pad for a life of high impact living, fulfilling potential and living as a masterpiece. As you tap into your passion you must grow. Here are 6 areas that you need to make growth priorities:
1. Integrity
You will never live out your potential as a lone ranger. God designed us to need one another. Anyone who says they are self-made are arrogant and blind to all that God has done for them and how others have poured into them. Those resources that are needed for you to reach your potential, be it others or finances, will only flow to those who live with integrity.
2. Self-Confidence
This goes back to passion and vision. Knowing that you are in line with what God has created you to do and be. This is not about you, but about you living out all that you were created to live. Vision will give you clarity and clarity will give you self-confidence, not arrogance, but a calm confidence that comes from the assurance that you are doing what you were created to do.
3. Moral Fiber
That is to say you must be a person of character and must continue to grow and develop your character. If you are untrustworthy with others, how much more will you be untrustworthy with all the potential God has placed within you?
4. Perseverance
You will be tested. You will face trials and times of difficulty. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you have a clear vision and you are doing what you were created to do that everything will be smooth sailing. In the same verse where Jesus said He came to give you a rich and satisfying life, he said that you have an enemy who is working to “kill, steal and destroy” all the potential that God has built within you. With each test you will have an opportunity to develop perseverance. You may be discouraged right now and feel like giving up – don’t. See this an opportunity to develop your perseverance.
5. Dedication
You need to be more dedicated and committed to living out your vision than anyone else. God Himself has trusted you with gifts, talents, and potential. He has faith in you. Have abandonment about your dedication to live yours completely. Don’t blame others when they lose faith in you – this is about you!
6. Love
Remember this is not a lone ranger journey. Your path to potential involves others, both helping you and you helping them. The more you help others reach their potential the more you will reach yours. The foundation for doing so is love. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that “three things remain…faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” Let love be the foundation for your vision and passion to live as the masterpiece God created you to be and you will have a much higher chance of living out your full potential.
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