TALENT ISN'T THE ISSUE.

CULTURE IS.

by Roy Todd

Albert Einstein once said ‘Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life believing it is stupid‘.

Everyone is gifted. It’s just that most people never get to discover it because of the environment they find themselves in. Negative cultures produce fearful & unconfident people who in turn pass the seemingly endless cycle of doom on to the next generation. The tragic consequence is that the world gets denied of amazing talent, simply because brilliantly gifted people are put down, repressed and never empowered in a culture of confidence.

Deep in the old testament, there’s a book called 1 Chronicles. It’s basically a bunch of genealogies which are incredibly useful for understanding the family histories of bible characters. Ok, it’s not the most exciting reading. Yet in the middle of it all, a character is mentioned whose name is ‘Jabez’. He was born into limitation and disgrace. His mother had profound personal issues which she never dealt with and subsequently passed them on to her son. It all looked terribly bleak for Jabez. His upbringing was filled with such negativity and defeatism that he seemed destined to live a pointless and insignificant life. But Jabez broke the negative cycle as he cried out to God. The passion of his prayer was as powerful as it was audacious. He prayed ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request‘ (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).

Jabez could easily have lived a life of limitation. But he dared to believe that God had something bigger for him. In faith, he broke the chains of restriction over his life and pushed past the confines of small thinking. The idea of asking God to ‘enlarge’ his territory’ is the kind of prayer that offends the meagre mindedness of mediocrity. A mediocre environment believes that you should be satisfied with average. Problem is, it will always become content with even less than that…always.

No-matter what, never settle for mediocrity…EVER. It’s not worth it to live a small life just to assuage well meaning people who suggest that this is the way you need to live. Resist it with every fibre of your being, even if it means you get misunderstood. You were born for more than this. You have been given gifts and talents by God which are not meant to be kept to yourself.

Your talent is not the issue. The culture in which you find yourself is. Get yourself into a vibe that stirs you to believe for greater, helps you to grow stronger, provokes you to dream bigger, inspires you to aim higher and empowers you to live a life that truly makes a difference. You know what? That’s exactly the kind of culture we’re passionate about creating at the Junction Church in Leicester,  Loughborough & Nottingham. Your success is our honour. 

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