Affirm what could be…
Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. –1 Thessalonians 5:11
I was having lunch with a friend who told me, “I’ve listened to you teach, and I think you could be…” She went on to affirm me with what she believed I could be. My brief lunch was empowering and motivating. I left this lunch feeling challenged, believed-in, and thankful that I have a friend who has “spiritual eyes” to see what could be in me.
One Sunday when I spoke at church last year, a man told me, “You look better in person than you do on stage. You also look thinner in person.” I was thinking, “What do I look like on the screens when I speak?” It must not be too good. Relationships with those we don’t know well tend to focus on the obvious.
Concerning those close to us, one of the ways to deepen the quality of our relationships is to be a person who challenges others to see their own potential. If you’re like me, you tend to see your own faults, sins and inadequacies and don’t always see potential for good. Make a conscious decision to go beyond mentioning the obvious, to envisioning others with what could be and make it know to them. Speaking positive words can breathe life into our souls. This type of affirmation is incredibly powerful and can become life-changing!
When I was a teenager, one of my teachers told me, “I see you as a leader…You should run for office in high school.” Her words became a visual portrait to me of who I could become.
What she did for me was simply to copy what Jesus did for Simon Peter. You remember the event where Jesus looked past Simon’s big-mouthed misadventures and gave him a new name: Peter, Petros, Rock. Jesus saw something in Simon (and told him so!) that Simon did not see in himself and this simple fisherman became a rock-solid leader in the Jerusalem church.
We all need people in our lives to see what we don’t see in ourselves. Today, breath some life into another person’s life by recognizing their potential and telling her or him what could be.
What portrait of potential can you paint for someone in your life today?
Blessings,
Thora
