Let’s Talk Potential

Let’s Talk Potential! God made us with different levels of potential. This is made clear in Jesus’ story of the talents in Matthew Chapter 25. Here the Master, before going on His journey, left one with five talents, one with two talents and yet another with one. The first point is found in verse 15. He gave every man according to his “several ability” or, stated differently, according to his potential. God is the one who gives the potential and everyone has different levels. The second point is that God only requires productivity that is proportionate to the potential that He gives. The scripture declares “To whom much is given much will be required” (Luke 12:48). God did not require five from the one He gave two. The one who produced two received the same accolades as the one who produced five. It is clear that the man who was given one would have received the same if he had produced only one more. Why? They each have different levels of potential. What does the Lord require of us? The answer is to reach our full potential by simply being what God made us to be and doing what God made us to do. Our potential is always changing. Notice the three men in Jesus’ parable. Focus on the fluctuation of their potential. The man with five worked to reach his full potential and developed another five. Now he has ten. The one with two earned two more. His potential is now at four. Their potential has grown because of their faithfulness. The man with five grew even further because the master gave him one more. What about the man with one? His potential decreased. The master took his talent and gave it to the faithful man that reached his full potential. Can you see the pattern? The principle goes like this. If we are faithful to work hard and reach our full potential; our potential actually increases. If we just stand by and embrace status quo; we lose the potential we once had. Use it or lose it! You can see that the possibilities are endless. Imagine with me the man with five talents. He reaches his full potential and he now has eleven. What will happen if he now reaches his full potential with eleven? Now he has twenty four. He’s faithful with that…well, you do the math. The point is it really starts to get exciting when we reach our full potential.