Nelson Mandela said, “There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” That’s bumper sticker material right there. It’s the kind of thing you want to hang on your bathroom mirror so you see it every day. And it has great implications for your spiritual life. So many of us are content to “play small”, to sneak by without making waves, desperate to ensure that no one notices we are even there. God placed His very Spirit within you. You are filled with the presence and the power of God. If that is true – and I believe that it is – there is no way we can help but make waves; it is a certainty that not only will we be noticed but that we will be pointed out.
Why would we, as followers of Jesus Christ, dare to settle for a life that was anything short of that which we were created to be capable of living? We have been empowered to do greater things than even Christ did when He walked our planet (John 14:12). We have been commissioned with all authority to proclaim His glory to all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20), but we are content to sit back and let our lives pass us by. Why would we not want to be absolutely everything God has created us to be? Why would we settle for anything less than a life aligned with and driven by the very Spirit of Christ? We have the unique privilege to interactively join with God in bringing about His purpose on earth; why would we waste such an opportunity?
As I wrote in a recent post, we should pray bold prayers. Beyond that, we should lead bold lives. It’s not enough to pray boldly and then wait for everything we asked for to come to pass. Steven Furtick refers to that as “magic”. If we want to see miracles instead of magic, we need to couple bold actions with our bold prayers. As Shane Claiborne brilliantly wrote, sometimes we need to be the answer to our own prayers (see “Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals”, by Shane Claiborne). I have said it so many times, but we must understand that every single one of us has been created with an exclusive combination of passions and talents, in order that we might do the specific work God created us to do. We are perfectly equipped to handle anything that comes our way if we would simply be bold enough to pray for His power and act for His glory.
Are you settling for a life spent playing small? There is no hope, no passion, and no glory in mediocrity. As we study the Scriptures it is easy to see that Christ is indeed highly passionate, all glorious and the very essence of hope. If we are to live a life that looks like Jesus, we must reflect these same attributes in our own lives. We cannot glorify Him while avoiding our responsibility within His plan. We cannot know Him if we refuse to follow Him. We are capable of changing the world for the glory of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. We lack nothing but the faith and boldness to do what He has already equipped and created us to do. Live your life with passion and refuse to accept anything less than that for which you were created. It’s time to stop playing small; now is the moment to boldly proclaim that you will live large for the glory of God. No more settling for little things; you are a child of God, and you were created to do great things.