Nelson Mandela once said, “We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. ALL of us. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:7 that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power.”
Kung Fu Panda says it this way, “There is no secret ingredient. It’s just you.”
However you say it, it’s the same idea. That we have some incredible power within us. But so many of us forget that. So many of us choose fear over faith. So many of us choose the ordinary and the average. But that’s not what we’re meant for and that’s not what God wants for us and from us. If you’ve accepted Christ then HE LIVES IN YOU. That means that the power that rose Christ from the dead is IN YOU. Now that is some powerful stuff running through your veins!
Jesus tells us in John 14:12 “…anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…” Say what?!? Jesus turned water into wine. He healed a blind man with spit. He fed five thousand with 5 loaves and two fish. He rose Lazarus from the dead. But He says we, His followers, will do even greater things!?!
Now I don’t know about you, but that’s a little hard for me to accept. And I’m betting if you think about your own life, you’d admit it’s a little hard for you to accept. How many times have you chickened out from talking to a co-worker about Christ? Or ignored the homeless man on the street corner? Or not spoken up when a friend was doing the wrong thing? How many times have you seen a need and ignored it because you thought “I can’t make a difference. I’m only me”?
So why is it so hard for us to accept our own power when God Himself tells us we have it? In part because the second we do, we have to step up and take some responsibility. We have to defend some “uncool” ideas. We have to stop complaining that we don’t have enough and thinking that we suck. We have to accept that we are strong and beautiful and that God did not mess up when He made us.
I’m not gonna lie, I struggle with this. I struggle with the idea that God lives in me. I struggle with the idea that I can impact the world. Because when I look at myself I just see Sarah. I see the awkward moment from this morning and the zit on my chin. I see the bruise from falling for no apparent reason. I see all the many mistakes I’ve made in my life. But when God looks at me, He sees Jesus. His all-powerful child. And when we accept that and live in that power, the rest of the world sees Jesus. And then we can change the world.
So I’m issuing a challenge to all the Christ-followers reading this. Step out of your fear. Live in your power. Our playing small doesn’t serve the world or our God. You were born to manifest the glory of God. You have a spirit of power. You are the secret ingredient.
Now that’s one smart panda.
