A few months ago the news media announced that a huge diamond had been found in a diamond mine in South Africa. It is the biggest diamond that mankind has ever discovered. They even showed a picture of the precious stone.

As I examined it, I could not help thinking how common and ugly this multi-million dollars worth of stone looked. It was still in its original state and had not been polished yet. To my uneducated eye, it appeared to be a regular piece of glass.

That is how we often view our own talents and skills. To God they are like precious stones, because He knows their huge potential, but they don’t seem very special in our own eyes.

Many times we look at what is in our hands and it doesn’t seem like much to us. Sure, we have this strength, but so do many others and they seem to excel in them much more than we do.

Be careful when these kind of thoughts cross your mind. Motivate yourself.You might be throwing away a piece of glass that in reality is a diamond in the rough.

If you think your talents are no big deal, you might be struggling in one of these areas:

Don’t Despise Small Beginnings

Anybody who ever excelled in anything had to start from scratch. In some point of their lives they determined to take that diamond in the rough and work and train and drill themselves until all its beauty could unfold.

We have to keep in mind that, when we admire the accomplishment of somebody, we are seeing the fruit of a long–and often painful–process of development. This time of preparation is most often lived in silence. A silence in which many a tear was shed and many a drop of sweat was brushed from the brow.

During this time of silence these people were nobodies. They were on their own, pushing and pressing while no one else but God believed in them. Not many successful people talk about the difficulties they encountered on their way to success, because, in the light of victory, the dark moments of the battle are quickly forgotten.

Perfectionism

Are you a so called overachiever? Do you pride yourself in setting high standards? Then you might have fallen into the trap of perfectionism.

Perfectionism is the enemy of everything that could have been good. It limits our capabilities, because, whatever we do, it will never be good enough. If perfectionists can’t attain a certain level, they just don’t do it because they have high standards and can’t settle for less. It is a recipe for failure.

The root of the problem with perfectionists is that it is all about them. God has an amazing plan for them, but it’s not for their glory. It is for His.

Hold Your Gifts Up to God

Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fish and a loaf of bread. Before doing that He held them up to God and God performed a miracle. Likewise, you can also hold your meager, unpolished talents and skills up to God in faith, and He will empower them and multiply them beyond anything you could ever imagine.

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I’d like to invite you to go for it! Visit http://www.Self-DirectedLearningForSuccess.com for tips and tools for creating and growing in your own learning process. Learn how to teach yourself in my FREE e-book: “The Power of Self-Directed Learning”, and my FREE e-course: “Seven Steps to Consistently Change Your Life.”

From Bettina Langerfeldt, who teaches people how to pursue their God-given gifts and talents by designing their own education with self-directed learning.

(C) 2008 Freedompioneer

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