By Daniel Garner
"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father." - Matthew 5: 13-16
"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." - William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain
The higher the feats of a person, the higher the potential for the fall. The greater the acts, the greater the demons that can haunt. There are times so dark where you can curve your lips but it doesn't mean that the smile reaches your eyes. So what's the answer, then? Curl up into a ball and weep?
Unequivocally, "no".
Whatever feats you can accomplish in life, you do so in part in the names of all of those who cannot do for themselves. A kind word to someone who had to mortgage the last of their willpower to just crawl out of bed that morning. Paying for the person's meal behind you in the drive-thru because somehow, deep down, you know that they could use it more than for what you were going to spend it on. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, like screaming at the wind, but the times that it does matter are the times that change lives and for that reason you should always try. You could be magnificent.
You can be magnificent.
You don't have to be willing to change everything about your life to be the positive change in someone else's.
Being human is more than just getting by during or even despite pain or war or conflict. Sometimes, it's about being magnificent because of it. Not everyone is called to be a war hero, but everyone is called to be magnificent. Even if it's just replying to a little child who's staring up at us awestruck and it means nothing to us, it can mean the world to that child.
God calls us all to love one another.
Jesus says in Matthew 5: 13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father." We are called to be that light, and one of the best ways to show that light is through the love that God provides unceasingly. Love and devotion isn't just something we feel. It's a promise. Love is devotion and devotion is proving that promise every day we live.
No matter what, God's love is always there for us. No matter how far we feel that we've sunk or gotten down in life, have faith and know that you matter what, if you start to turn and run to God, He's already halfway to you with open arms.
Let's love one another as God loves us. And through that, we can not only do great but be great.
Have faith, release all of your full potential, lift your chin high and do something magnificent today!