from the archives
My generation grew up with the belief that we could accomplish great things, realize any dream, and actually be anything we want. Well, the former two might be true, but I would argue that the latter is actually a lie.
It sounds nice. It tickles the ears. It feels good to say it. While you can be a lot of things, including a new creation, you cannot be anything your heart so desires.
While the notion of telling children that they can be anything sounds wonderful, it actually does more harm. My generation heard some of that message, but more and more children today are being bombarded with the “you can achieve all things” mantra. Kids today grow up honestly believing that they are bound by nothing, including performance (or lack thereof), skill set, intellect, hard work, or perseverance.
In Tim Elmore’s book, Generation iY, he addresses this phenomena, saying:
We see signs of it on reality shows like American Idol when well-intentioned kids by the hundreds of thousands show up to audition before judges for a spot on the show. Most of them have no business being there… and end up making a fool of themselves on national TV. Why do they try out? All too often, it’s because some friend or some adult has lied to them.
Falsely telling our children they can do it all and be anything leads to great disappointment later on in life when those little children become adults and realize that they can only do so much. This truth is not only applicable to our children, but to us, as well.
Elmore points out, for instance, that the “you can be anything” lie has even become part of the American dream. Many adults suffer just as much from the “be anything” lie. I know I might sound like a bit of a Debbie Downer, but let me clarify. I do think we can all achieve great things, and I also believe that the Lord has greater plans for us than we can know. As Job recognized, “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me…” Knowing our strengths is important, but we find great power and freedom in also recognizing our weaknesses.
The other thing we fail to recognize, on our quest to be anything, is that we maybe aren’t good at everything. I can almost hear the new generation of parents shriek even now. “Of course my kid would be good at anything! (S)He’s my kid!” But the reality is we can’t all be surgeons, or teachers, or violinists. I, for one, would make a horrible medical professional. I have neither the heart, nor the stomach for it (despite my love of horror films).
Likewise, the child who enters the workplace post-college, with something to prove after years of being essentially lied to and told he can do anything, will all too quickly crumble under the weight and responsibility of life when they realize that they are just like everyone else. Yes, some of us are gifted and skilled in certain areas. Some of us are musical or artistic, mathematical or analytical, but no one accomplishes much without the other tools necessary to succeed–tools like persistence, common sense, flexibility, and initiative.
Don’t get me wrong, either–I’m a dreamer. I love to envision, brainstorm, and discuss the what-could- and should-bes. I want to instill within my children a hope and fire to create change, but not in and of themselves. We have all read this verse hundreds of times. It’s a Bible standard: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” We say it in passing. We pray this verse when someone is having a hard day. We act like we believe it, but when things get tough, I’ll admit, I throw that whole “through Him” part right out the car window as I’m speeding down the “I got this” highway.
Above all, though, I want my kids to be confident in who they are while also able to find their confidence in Christ. I do not want it to be my inflated words or superfluous compliments that build their self-esteem. Self-esteem, as I have written about before, is a fragile thing. But it’s best built upon fact and ability, not dreams and well wishes. Or worse, false confidence.
What were you told you could do, that maybe you found out you weren’t great at? How did you handle this realization? Who has God shown you to be? What dangers do you see in the “be anything” lie?
Amen! On the flip side to this, we CAN be great, even best in the world, at some things, and I believe finding those strengths is essential to our success. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say on that sometime down the road.
Great idea! (wink wink) I’m on it!
I greatly dislike this lie that has been told to many. I don’t even like Seth Godin’s version of it. The we can be best at one thing. We cannot. Or at least the vast majority of us cannot. Very few people can be best at anything. And to be best at something we have to give up virtually everything else. Being best at something is very, very difficult.
I saw an interesting statistic yesterday. Students in the US are near the bottom in almost every educationally variable when compared to other industrialized country except for one. US students have the most self confidence of anyone. So they just don’t believe it when they are told that they are near the bottom in all other variables, and their parents don’t either.
Try telling a parent that there child is not nearly perfect. Most parents will reject that idea out of hand.
Adam, that is such a great example–students whose self-confidence far outweighs their performance. Self-confidence is important but self-efficacy is what helps separate leaders from everyone else.
Great point too about being the “best” at something. I am actually going to do a follow up post on that very idea and tie the two together. Thanks for the great comment!
Great post. I believe we should find what we are passionate about, a couple of things and pursue them with dignity, intellectualism, grace and creativity. Trying to be everything, or even something we hate simply because someone lied to us and said we can, or worse we “should” because it’s “how things are” (i.e. terrible jobs) is a bad idea.
You are SO RIGHT. We CANNOT be “anything” we want to be.
“We”re not born with unlimited choices. We can’t be anything we want to be. We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become.” ~ Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
Trudy what a great quote you shared! It so speaks to our identity in Christ and listening and then serving in obedience to our personal calling. It is bascially playing the role we were born to play.
Thanks for sharing that and commenting!
love this. lies I tell you!
Thanks John, and yes…Down with the lies!
The Little Engine that Could has been around since the early 1900s…but the message (the lie) is the same…telling children that all they have to do is try hard enough and they can do anything. I had a professor that liked exposing stories like this, and point out the harm they can do. Part of being healthy is learning to know your boundaries, and to set your boundaries…something that is clearly lacking today. Try setting a boundary with a friend and they often get upset with you.
“I need you to watch my kids this week sometime.” “Sorry, I have a very full week and my own four kids who are working to get caught up with school, I can’t.” “I’m sure you could if you wanted to…”
Somewhere along the way, it’s become wrong to say “Sorry, I can’t”. We demand explanations…as if the other person owes it to us to convince us that they really don’t have any possible way to make it work so we can get what we want. It’s just wrong. We are not only trying to believe the lie that we can do whatever we want, but we force it on others and take it as rejection if they say they can’t do what we want them to. It’s a cycle of sickness.
Another one my prof loved to bash are all the Disney happy endings…don’t get me wrong. I love Disney. But the original fairy tales often had what we would consider horrific endings that taught children lessons (the end of the original The Little Mermaid had her turning to sea foam because she wouldn’t kill the prince). What lesson does Beauty and the Beast tell us, other than that if a girl loves her man deeply enough, he’ll stop being a beast and become a prince. (Most of us gals have a hard enough time remembering you can’t expect your fella to change, we don’t need a cartoon convincing our daughters of the opposite).
Stepping off soapbox…good post!
Dee Dee you bring up some great points. i love you pointing out the flip side of the “be anything” lie which even has people forcing that lie and expectations on others. Such a great observation!
I had an economics prof (who was really talking about feminism, but applies here) that said that economics was the study of why we can’t have it all.
No one can do anything or everything. It is a matter of choice. I could make much more money than I do, but I choose to stay home and nanny my two nieces. Maybe some would take that as a ‘you can do anything’ statement. But I think it is a you can’t have it all. My nieces cannot have a stay at home parent, and two fully employed parents at the same time. It just is not physically possible.
It’s about time someone told the truth.
Thanks Eric.
We are often quick to judge people who decide to cut their losses and step away from something that’s working. I know I was led to believe growing up that if I just thought about something hard enough, it would be true. Therefore, a lot of people keep pursuing things that logic dictates should have been abandoned long ago. “Never never give up” is honored, but we forget that trying the same thing more than once and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Knowing when to bow out and move on is a fine art.
So well said Joey and so true. I think leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs for example have a rare combination of perseverance as well as common sense.
Recognizing a good thing is a skill but knowing when to walk away from one, as you said is just as crucial.
you gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, and know when to walk away.
Such a good post! This big lie made a generation that had/has had the hardest time becoming adults. We were never taught hard work, or given accurate assessment of our skills, and we all expected to do basically nothing and become millionaires. Then, when we grew up, had all these responsibilities that required hard work- and we could not handle it (because we weren’t taught how) it made us feel like big fat failures. Pretty much the opposite of what the “lie” was trying to do- build up our self esteem.
On the flip side, I do believe that if we set realistic (and I don’t mean probably and easy, but just POSSIBLE based on skills, talent, hard work, life etc.) goals, with clear vision and intention that we CAN accomplish anything that we want.
I think the bigger problem is that all these gen Y people faced a harsh reality and gave up on all their dreams and goals and became jaded by their failures, when in reality, if they focused their goals, and set realistic expectations, they CAN accomplish so much.
Yes Carrington, your generation is so much a product of the “be anything” lie. Those who are teens and tweens now will have so many more self-esteem lies to battle.
I agree though that setting probable achievable goals can help us achieve greatness. Greatness too is loving Christ and loving others. Success is money, power or fame. I’m after the former!
Malcolm Gladwell has written a number of books including, “Outliers.” His premise is that for anyone to succeed in whatever task they take, they need 10,000 hours applied to that task. So, if you want to succeed it takes more than just thinking you can. It takes hard work!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)
Okay, I’m now trying to wrap my head around what 10,000 hours looks and feels like…eek! I feel a little exhausted just thinking about it. That is a great application to this discussion though. Thanks Cecily.
I’m going to check out that book too.
I really enjoyed this post. AWESOME! The more I read your blog, the more I appreciate your voice and writing style. I have a many conversations that revolved around this same issue. Thanks for passionately writing about something so relevant.
I agree that we should not be telling kids they can be/do anything, but I do believe we should tell them to follow their dreams, try to do their best, and if they want to be an astronaut, then go for it. While my parents were very encouraging and supportive of me while I was growing up, I don’t feel that I was lied to about this topic. I remember the little engine that could. Yes, I was told to try try again. Were my parents misleading? yes. Did I always succeed at what I was told I could do? No. But who does? Part of growing up is learning “when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, and when to walk away”. There are some lessons in life that we can’t be taught, they must be learned. Whenever I fail at something or encounter something that seems impossible, I remember this quote:
“I have never been afraid of failure: for I would sooner fail than not be found amongst the greatest.” John Keats
I am reminded to try try again, like the little engine that could. This attitude has been pivotal in my life, and even when I do fail because I tried to do something I could not, I am still learning, growing, and will ultimately succeed from the failure. The key is to learn your own potential by self discovery: trying, failing, learning, trying again. Without encouragment from my parents telling me I can do whatever I want, I don’t think I would have tried as much, failed as much, or learned as much. Without the positive comments from my parents inflating my ego, I don’t think I would have been able to keep trying new things, either.
Also,the key is never quantify the potential of someone else. You never know what some one else is capable of.
Kenny, I so agree with you that there has to be a balance in what we tell our kids. When I was little, I was encouraged to dream but maybe not dream BIG. I wish I had been. My parents were not the best at encouraging the “you can achieve anything” mentality.
The result of which, is i am a bit of a realistic and on bad days, a skeptic.
I think you hit it right on the head when you say, we need to learn how to try again! Kids today, I think after being told they can do anything, try and fail and then never attempt that thing again. They are expecting victory or success and are thrown off when they do achieve it.
Trying again and also knowing when to walk away are so important. Thanks for adding those thoughts to the conversation. They are great points!
So I have decided to only comment on this post and not the newest one because to be quite honest, I have no real experience with the newest one. I can hypothesize and throw out what I think would work or have solutions for it, but honestly… who gives a flying flip about a 21 year old’s opinion on sex in marriage, with the added kicker that I’m not married and I am still a virgin. So here I am commenting on something I know LOTS about! The (in)famous statement of “you can be anything you want to be” or “you can do whatever you want in life”.
I first heard this statement (I’m going to avoid saying lie for the time being for all intents and purposes) from my parents from a VERY early age. I remember thinking, Anything? Really? This statement shaped my life and who I was for a long time, whenever someone said that I couldn’t do something, I would oppose them and say Yes I Can, and then I would go ahead and do it just to prove them wrong.. or I would just get angry at them and write them off, but thats another story altogether.
As I started to grow up a little more this statement shaped who I was even further because I took it in a way that told me I can be who I want to be, that I can follow my dreams and be happy in life (but not necessarily wealthy) instead of living in a cubicle forever. I then began to find out what truly meant something to me and then how I could employ that into my life and turn it into a profession.
It took me a while but I finally realized, through prayer, discernment, and a calling from God to become a pastor. Now, I have no clue what this will look like for me in the coming years and in what capacity I will serve the church, or even WHERE I will serve. But I do know this, I am doing this because I believe in myself that I can get the job done (through God’s help of course!!!)
I know that self-confidence, if handled poorly, can kill a person (sometimes literally), but if handled well through the fostering of proper goals and assessment of one’s strengths, it can serve as one’s greatest tools in life to propel them into the life they want for themselves, and the life that God wants for them!
If you start kids out in life by telling them they CANNOT do anything then they will not dream. They will not think that their dream are possible, and thus they will become skeptical of this world and the beauty it possesses.
I also know that you are not saying we should tell our kids that they cannot do anything, but then again what should we tell them? If we tell them they can do only that which they are good at then (as kids) they may not dream about things because kids have NO CLUE about what they are or aren’t good at yet. If we tell them they cannot do whatever they like, then that kills the dream as well. I firmly believe that we should be telling our kids that they should dream and hope in life, and when they become older we should HELP THEM find their strengths and discern where God has them going in life.
If you cannot tell already I am a firm believer in telling kids they can do anything, and I am also a firm believer in fostering their strengths and discerning with them where they should go in life. I firmly believe that each one of us has a purpose, but we really cannot know that when we are 5 or 8 or even 13. Typically we find our calling in life in our 20’s and on. So I say we tell our kids that they can do anything they want, and then help them and nurture that statement and help curb any narcissism that may cause, instead of limiting the imagination and dreams kids can dream.
I know that was long, but it makes up for the fact that I couldn’t comment on the other post about sex.. I hope you enjoy this!
In the past few years I have had to give up on quite a few things in my life. My life is now simpler and emptier, but I found that I had to jettison these things because I had simply reached my emotional and physical limits.
I am now beginning to reclaim both my emotional health and my physical health, but I have a long way to go. I am also finding more peace as I pick up the pieces and move on.
Ultimately I believe that God has A plan and A purpose for my life. I don’t care about being what I want to be (or become). I try to simply focus on finding and being what His plan and purpose call for.
Ironically, I find that the things I used to think were part of His plan and purpose for me actually weren’t. So, I admit that, regroup, and set out again. This time I know more than I did the first time, and I’m starting in a much simpler manner. I’m also asking way more questions this time – which is sometimes hard for a man to do.
Thank you for, in a round-about way, encouraging me in that journey via your post.
Yup…I want to be the next Anthony Burger. I lack the innate talent for that.
Whenever I bemoan the fact that I can’t play piano nearly as well as Anthony, or that I can’t cook like Mario Batali, or preach a sermon like Joe Bell (former pastor and good friend of mine), or that I don’t have perfect pitch, or that I can’t write poetry (except for really, really awful stuff), I remind myself of what my best friend once said:
“If we were all the best at everything, then no one would be there to stand on the sidelines, appreciate, and applaud.”
Hi Nicole,
Are you saying I’ll never be a ballerina?
I’m sure I could be if only I lost 150 pounds and learned to dance on tiptoe.
OK, if you insist, 200 pounds.
The line that struck me in your essay is, ““I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” We say it in passing…. but when things get tough, I’ll admit, I throw that whole “through Him” part right out the car window as I’m speeding down the “I got this” highway”.
I think the part of the verse to throw out is the word “do”. I wonder if it should read “endure”?
I saw this cartoon once of a dad fussing at teen-age son:
“When Abraham Lincoln was your age, he studied his homework by firelight on the log cabin floor”.
The boy said, “Dad, when Abraham Lincoln was your age, he was president of the United States”.
John Cowart
http://www.cowart.info.blog/
Yes, John, when we read the verse properly, “endure” catches a good chunk of the meaning, but not all of it.
We have been so mistaught in the church. Christians (especially many pastors) love to grab a verse out of context and use it however they see fit. Well, that’s not what God intended when He gave us His Word.
Here’s the verse, quoted in its context:
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:11-13
Paul isn’t talking about becoming great in whatever area he chooses! He says here that he has “learned to be content in whatever circumstances” he is in. Whether things are going well or going badly, he can deal with it because God gives him the grace (divine empowerment) he needs to live victoriously, regardless of his circumstances.
But how many sermons have you heard that tell you something different about what Paul said? How many teachers love to grab a sound bite, as if they were CNN, in order to add punch to whatever they have decided to talk about?
Attention, all followers of Christ! Let’s all be diligent to handle the Scriptures properly. “Where two or three are gathered in My name…” has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus attending your Sunday services!!!
I actually had a conversation with a man who was convinced that Philippians 4:13 meant he could walk through walls or fly through the air through the power God had given him. No joke.
No, John, you and I will never be ballerinas. A scene in “Fantasia” shows what I would look like as a ballerina, but the hippo in the tutu is far more graceful than I could ever be.
Yes, Nicole, you are right once again. Thanks for another great post. When Lincoln was my age, he was president of the United States. But as hard as he might have tried, he could never have become a ballerina, either.
This is so true. It can seem overwhelming to a kid to think there are unlimited options out there for them. I read once where when the Bible says to ‘train up a child in the way they should go’, it meant to point them in the direction they were created to fulfill…not so much about making them love God. Although that is also important. I find that as I learn my specific strengths and acknowledge my weak areas, I feel more defined and focused. Love, love, love this post!
I love this so much, Nicole. And what a great discussion!
I find that the largest quota of time I give to teach and inspire our children is used to stretch the description of so many words that we already have pre-concieved ideas of.
One of the earliest truths I spoke into the young hearts of our boys was, “God made you for a great and special purpose.” But, right on the heels of telling them that God made them for a great/special purpose, I would weave a story for them that illustrated how “great” can actually look a lot like being “small” or “un-recognized” or “unsuccessful”. I want my kids to be able to turn a definition on it’s head and see if for the deeper mystery that it holds, a definition that isn’t static, but actually mobile and fluid in it’s relativity to a situation or personal belief.
I’m not sure if there is so much danger in telling our young ones that they can “be anything” as long as the conversation is more complete, complete by communicating that for them to “be anything”, they will have the boundaries of their uniqueness and personal limitations around their dreaming. Maybe it would sound more like, “Be anything YOU can be . . . “???
:),
Erika
Seriously loved this. I feel like I’m still in the phase of combating the “you can do anything” mindset and trying to figure out the stuff I can actually do well and become great at.
What a good post!
I just got done watching “Limitless,” a movie about a man who takes a drug that allows him to literally be the best at everything. And of course, there are costs!
It’s really interesting to read this right after that.
Anyway, I completely agree that this lie is harmful. I’m in college right now, and I have big prospects for the future. I just hope I’m not in over my head.
I would like to say that even though we can’t be anything we want to be, we do put many limits on ourselves as well. I feel that we don’t always reach our full potential.
It’s a tough balance to strike – that of removing all self-imposed limits balanced with limits imposed by reality.
I’m appalled reading this. You can become anything you want ,there is no difference between you and say Matt Damon,Barack Obama, Mark Jacobs,Steven Spielberg etc.The sad part is I doubt if any of you guys will reach that place you once wanted to be. Nothing in life is easy,especially if its worth having. Hard work and Dedication pays off but all people want are results. “You will never succeed if failure is an option”
My two cents
21 Year Old Dreamer
I’m not sure if you are for real, or not, kid. Understand what your strengths are and go with that. Otherwise, prepare to embrace mediocrity.
Enjoy.
Actually, ask the 90% of men who enter BUDS Indoc if they think “you can do/be anything you want if you work hard enough.”
I really like your thoughts on this subject:) I have actually known two very extreme types of parents, one that are very into the whole you can bea nything your little heart desires, and one so engulfed with religious veiws they have actually told their kids to not worry about educational goals, or your heart desires to be anything than a full time church attender, Bible studying, praying adult because Jesus will probably return before you even finish school. I have seen the results of both adults, lost, confused, just working jobs they don’t enjoy much just to get by. My thoughts led me to the scripture that says seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these will be added unto you.
My phone totally sent that way to fast lol, also the scripture that says to lean not into our own understanding but if we acknowledge God he will direct our path, so if we teach our kids to have dreams and goal but pray always about them and put God first he will guide them on the right path, the Bible also says if we trust in him he will give us the desires of our heart. He knows our hearts desires and dreams so when he is first I believe he will guide us on the path that our dreams and hearts desires will come true . This is just something to instill in our kids . :)
Thanks Nicole for again using honesty that will at first seem disappointing, but will ultimately free us and build us up. One of my first responsibilities to someone I am discipling/mentoring is to help them find and build up what that passion and gifting/skill they posses from God is. This way we equip them better for “success” in whether its a career, vocation or role in ministry. Or better said, it allows them to not just walk in the prepared works God has for them, but equips the ones they are ministering/serving to become more of the same!
Nicole,
I did not comment on this when it came around the first time. But today is today and I shall now opine freely.
Your words require a bit of discernment to see past the initial ‘downerism’ of this post. You are speaking with wisdom and wisdom in ne’er easily seen, and basically impossible to grasp at first glance. In simpler terms, I am digging what you are cooking here, because He who gave you these words has also opened my eyes.
I know I am a son of God. I know I am a co-heir with Jesus. I know I am loved. I know I am flawed. I know I have been made righteous in His eyes, through the blood of His Son, our Savior. I know I sometimes simply don’t ‘get it’ when it comes to His ways and His thoughts.
Thankfully, He has never told me I am a bag of Oreo’s and then some. He has never lied to me or blown smoke up my butt. He has even at times hurt my feelings and crushed my ego (arrogance). I honestly believe at times I say or do things that cause Him to *facepalm* and shake His head in disappointment. (Actually, I believe we ALL have caused Him to do that once or twice!)
But I consider all of this part of walking in The Kingdom this side of Heaven, here, on this fallen and lost planet. And through it all, oh yeah, He just doesn’t give up on us. So while He has never lied to me by telling me I am awesome, He has also never walked away from me because I am not.
We are all wonderfully flawed, beautifully broken, and gloriously inept. This is more than appropriate, for if we were otherwise, Jesus wouldn’t be our Savior, since the need for His death would have been removed.
Wow that was awesome. I will just simply say thanks! I really needed that.
I am also seeing an opposite extreme to this phenomenon: The Participation Generation college grad who thinks since they can “do anything” works as a barista at Starbucks saddled with $150,000 in school loans and expects that they should be able to live in the city, eat sushi 5 nights a week, and shop at Abercrummie.
Great post. For my wife and I, as we are trying to disciple our children, we have to help them realize that not only is it ok to be weak and needy, but that that is a GOOD thing. To believe that I can do anything leaves no room for the gospel — or at least, maybe a prosperity gospel.
Php 4:13 (From Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible)
I can do all things – From the experience which Paul had in these various circumstances of life, he comes here to the general conclusion that he could “do all things.” He could bear any trial, perform any duty, subdue any evil propensity of his nature, and meet all the temptations incident to any condition of prosperity or adversity. His own experience in the various changes of life had warranted him in arriving at this conclusion; and he now expresses the firm confidence that nothing would be required of him which he would not be able to perform.
I had a very hard time with convincing my daughter about:
Santa and Down the Chimney routine,
Tooth Fairy,
Easter Bunny Rabbit laying colored hard boiled eggs,
AND telling her lying was a sin.
Nicole,
Great post. This is a needed discussion for sure. A friend of mine always says: “Don’t ask God what His will for your life is…you no longer have a life. You have been crucified with Christ.”
This puts things in perspective for me. Jesus said that He could only ‘do’ what the Father was doing in Him. The same is true for us. We can only truly ‘do’ what His divine life in us is doing. If we try to ‘do’ anything else, we will be frustrated and well on our way to discouragment & burn-out.
I also grew up in the generation that was told “I can do anything I set my mind to.” The unfortunate thing is sometimes my mind sets on doing things that aren’t good for me or things I am not supposed to do. This has led me to have stepped into some unfortunate circumstances and also carry more weight than I really should. In raising my own children, I have come to understand the scripture, “Raise a child in the way he should go…” as meaning every child has way they should go and that way is often different than another child they grow up with. My job as a parent is to seek the way God is leading my child and point him to that way in hopes and with prayer that he will find it.
I’ve seen God lead me not only through my talents, opportunities and passions, but also by my limitations. One door closing makes me look harder for another.
Also, the way the Holy Spirit gives various gifts to individuals at his discretion means you have a gift that I don’t, so I need you to exercise that gift by serving me and by teaching me how. This makes the body more interdependent and it certainly helps our humility–one of the prerequisites of unity.
This is a very interesting way of looking at what people have believed for a long time.It’s true you cannot be everything.Of late, I have been thing about what people say about education.Many people say that education holds a better future.I question this.I would be very happy if you could explore on this belief or “lie”.Furthermore, kindly discuss what” I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me,” mean in the context of “You Cannot Be Anything You Want”.Well down God bless you.
Late to the party on this one. Again. But, I needed to say I LOVE this. So true what a tragic lie this is. We cannot be anything we want to be.
The good new is? We don’t have to be limited by our own strengths. Because, in our weakness, He (God, of course) is made strong. I am grateful for that one!!! (Boy, do I know I am weak.)