“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” ~Angela Bassett

I was having lunch with a friend the other day and we were talking about leadership. I was telling him that I love growing, but my biggest fear is that one day I’ll be capped. One day, I’ll be labeled of going as far as I could go. That thought is always in the back of my mind.

My friend paused for a moment, looked into my eyes, and said, “Bubba, I think deep down inside everyone knows whether or not they are growing to their maximum potential.”

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⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.                                                                         -Romans 5:8

God’s been teaching me to never judge a person by their cover. It’s so easy to judge people isn’t it? “That person never went to college” “That person will never be a great leader” “They need help” “At best they’ll do _____ with their lives.” “They don’t have what it takes.” I often wonder what God is thinking when  He hears us say these things about His kids!

God is the master at taking someone who the world deems worthless and doing unbelievable things in and through their lives. Why? Because God sees greatness in every living human being. Including YOU!

The Bible said that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. We were absolutely worthless to God, but He saw greatness in us, He made a plan for our lives, He put gifts within us, and sent His Son to die so we could fellowship with Him. I’m so glad He didn’t judge me by my cover. It gives me hope for my future!

However, millions of people never hear what God says about them. Millions everyday hear people judging them based on who they are or what they’ve done, and sadly it’s often from Christians. When we judge people and fail to see them through God’s eyes, we will destroy Hope in their lives.

Let’s quit judging people and start lifting them. Stop judging people by their cover. See every person with the potential God sees in them. If we do, we’ll free them up to be who God called them to be and do what God called them to do!

People need us to see them as God sees them!

Ever feel like this? I know I have. When I was 18 I started interning at my church. It was an unpaid internship and I had no  idea what to expect out of the behind the scenes work at a church. For almost a year the biggest responsibility I had was washing pitchers of water and organizing bins for youth group. That’s what everyone dreams of when they think of working at a church, right?

“God is more concerned about developing your potential than you are!”

I would sit in meetings and hear my mentor delegate “significant” tasks to the rest of the team only to end with looking at me and saying, “Bubs, organize the bins and wash the pitchers.” After two months of that, I had enough. So when my mentor left for his 8 week sabbatical, I e-mailed him telling him I quit. I didn’t sign up to work for free and wash pitchers.

He got me in contact with another mentor and had him talk to me. He said, “Bubs, have you prayed about this?” Of course I hadn’t. He said, “Give God a chance to speak to your heart, if you come back and still don’t want to, then quit.” God had one chance – if he didn’t speak to me in my devotions, it was over. I opened to Isaiah 49:3.4:

³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” ⁴ I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;I will trust God for my reward.”

This verse changed my life forever. I felt like my work was useless, done for nothing, and for no purpose. YET…I leave it in God’s hands – I trust Him for my reward.  I developed this mentality and decided to stick with the internship.

One Thing Leads to Another

For an entire year, I set up bins faithfully every week. At the end of the year, I got asked to give my first offering. I started getting more responsibility. I interned a second year and at the end of my second year, I got asked to speak for the first time ever. Which led to more speaking engagements, more responsibility, and eventually 4 years after I interned, I got hired on staff at my church.

What Would Have Happened if I Would Have Quit Because I thought Everything I did was Pointless?

I wouldn’t be writing this, I wouldn’t be on staff, I probably wouldn’t be living for God. My Conclusion? God has you where you are for a reason, for your development, and if you’ll learn to trust Him for your reward instead of people, in His timing, He will promote you and allow you to do great things for Him, but first, you have to be faithful in the things that seem absolutely worthless.