“THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!

Envision Greatness

I said, “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!”

Do you hear what I am saying, “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!”

I’m dating myself, but in the original Wizard of OZ each character had a dilemma. Dorothy wanted to get back to Kansas, the Lion wanted courage, the Tin Man wanted a heart, and the Scarecrow wanted a brain. Dorothy was given ruby red slippers by the good witch. Dorothy always had the means to get home. The lion was the go to guy when the situation required courage. The keenness of the Scarecrow’s intellect always got them out of trouble, and when it was time for compassion it was the capacity of the Tin Man’s heart that soothed the situation at hand. Each character had within themselves what they were looking for but needed an outward manifestation to validate who they already were on the inside. So, they went off to see the Wizard of OZ.

I don’t know the intention of the author or writer of the screenplay, but I believe that it serves as social commentary on how many of us are living out our lives looking for outward validation for what already exists on the inside us.  “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU”.  

Settling for mediocrity

On a lot of days I ask myself, “Why am I so willing to settle for mediocrity when there is greatness in me. It seems like I’m waiting for permission to be great. Do you ever ponder such thoughts? It seems like I’m afraid of something. What about YOU?

Marianne Williamson, in her poem “Our Deepest Fear”, gets to the heart of the matter when she says “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us" We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” The answer to that question is quite simple and very profound. YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, and God don’t make no junk. “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!”

William Shakespeare says this to us about greatness "Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." Scripture bears witness to US that as believers we have had greatness thrust upon us. Mediocrity and passivity is NOT the natural state for believers, but it is the state for many of us because we have accepted an interpretation of ourselves that has renders us emotionally and spiritually impotent and immature.

Believe in self

Epistemology is the study of Knowledge. A subset of this field is the study of self-knowledge. The briefest explanation of this field of study is that it looks at how we come to understand and see ourselves. I am introducing this to YOU because some of what you have come to believe about yourself is not your fault. You have been shaped and molded by how you were socialized and by the information that you were given by sources that you trusted.  So, maybe YOU just don’t know that “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!” and that is why you respond and act the way that you do.

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV), states that “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”. This infers that the totality of one’s thinking, which includes awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment, dictates how one will respond to the world. If all of YOUR frames of reference suggests that THERE IS NO GREATNESS IN YOU then no matter what anyone tells you that validates your GREATNESS, your subconscious mind will wage war against that thought in order to maintain the status-quo of invalidation that abides in you. How many times has someone complimented you and your subconscious mind not only rejected the compliment, but it rejected the possibility that such a compliment could be made in reference to YOU? Therein, lies the war that keeps you from believing that “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!”

The seed of negativity

What I am suggesting is that somewhere deep within many of us a seed of negativity was planted and took root in our spirits. It could have been planted by:

• Being sexually abused by someone WE trusted

• When YOU were told that “you are just like your no good father

• The uneasy feelings that YOU had about your sexuality 

• Being deemed socially and religiously unacceptable

When something “takes root”, it establishes itself where it is planted so it can flourish. Once established, the roots of negativity create obstructions that are in conflict with the divine nature that was established in YOU by God. As a result, the way we see the world and our place in it has been distorted. The distortion manifests itself:

• Self-hatred 

• Low self-esteem 

• Resentment 

• Fear of life 

• Self-doubt

How people think of themselves

If you are anything like me, those feelings of invalidation play themselves out in unhealthy relationships, and in the masks that we have to wear in order to hide the insecure, fragile individuals that we believe ourselves to be. However, I am here to tell you that YOU are worthy of so much more and there lies in you so much untapped potential for GREATNESS.

The dilemma is that many of us are living out the self-fulfilling prophecies of the way we think about ourselves. We can no longer afford to be trapped in the prison of our minds. The first step to freedom is that we must accept two truths.

1.  life happens and we are dealt cards that require us to face life’s trials and tribulations
2. some of the unmanageability in our lives is self-inflicted and masochistic because we have abdicated the responsibilities of our live and are punishing ourselves for whom we have become.

 How to change negativity

The first truth we can’t do anything about because life on life’s terms happens, but the second truth is within our power to change. “THERE IS GREATNESS IN YOU!!”

Change can’t happen for us if what we believe about ourselves remains the same. I’m going to leave you with these final words because if YOU are not a willing or have a desire to change, the next part of this blog will not be relevant. I want YOU to take a look at your life and make a decision to:

• Demonstrate the FAITH of the ten lepers, who without questioning heeded the words of Jesus and went to present themselves to the priest. “As they walked, they were healed.” 

• Demonstrate the FAITH and COURAGE of the woman with the issue of blood, who by telling the truth about herself received more that just the healing of her visible malady. By telling the truth about the traumatic realities of her life she went from nobody to somebody and from somebody to a daughter. She not only received an outward healing, but she received confirmation that she was a child of God and an inward wholeness that can only be experienced when YOU accept who YOU are and what has happened in your life. “Daughter thy faith has made you whole”.

 The Greatness in you

As I am accepting the GREATNESS IN ME, are you willing to begin the process of accepting the GREATNESS IN YOU? There is a Part 2 to this blog, please respond to The Souls Remedy and say that YOU want to “Continue Your Journey to Greatness”.

Let us pray:

Father, you have made me in your image and your word tells me that those who are called by your name will do far greater things than you here on this earth. Help me to accept the mandate of greatness that you have placed on my life. Help me not to be held captive to my past or the negativity that abide in my spirit. Set me free to take the authority that you have given me as one of you heirs to bind up anything in my life that is causing an obstruction or keeping me from realizing the destiny and promise that you have for my life. Father, I thank you for all that you have done in my life, for all that you are doing in my life and for all that you will do in my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen

Peace

About the writer:

Submitted by: Carl F. Hunter II, M.Div

Reverend Hunter is an Itenerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a graduate of New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Reverend Hunter is a frequent contributor to The Soul’s Remedy. His prior submission are entitled “And God Spake All These Words” and “There is Greatness In You”. Reverend Hunter is a father and a grandfather, and resides in New Jersey.