The death of a seed is the burial of a forest.
Being an artist and a lover of history, I enjoy these excursions in every country I visit. This day in Brasilia was no exception. I felt great appreciation for the beautiful and important works of art around me. As I viewed, studied, and admired the tremendous historical pieces and the priceless testimonies of the glory of this nation’s past and present, I was once again reminded that each painting, sculpture, and specimen was the product of the release of someone’s potential. Although many of the artists are dead, their works are not. Display after display gave evidence to potential that had not been buried with the artists. Because they had dared to expose the talent hidden within them, I and many others were enjoying, appreciating, and being inspired by their imaginative works.
Throughout time, the great and small works of individuals—be their paintings, books, music, poetry, drama, architecture, inventions, or the development of theories—have affected the lives of many. All who have helped to shape our society’s destiny—the giants who teach us and inspire us—used their potential with a passion and refused to let circumstances dictate their future. The museum in Brazil, like all the museums of the world, is a constant reminder that someone lived who refused to let death have the final word on their potential. Their released potential is the world’s inheritance.
I believe earth itself is a museum. Each of us comes into this world with an assignment to fulfill. God commissions us to leave for the following generations something from which they can learn and be inspired. The abilities to complete these assignments lie within us. The tools are our natural talents, gifts, and ambitions. Each of us comes into this world with an assignment to fulfill.
Unless you accept the responsibility for activating your abilities, the next generation will enter the museum of life and notice a vacant space in earth’s displays. The sign below the placed reserved to display the fruit of your potential will read: “Assignment unfinished. Potential unreleased.”
The Abortion of Ability
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” These words were spoken by Sir Winston Churchill. They contain a truth that should be guarded and heeded. The graveyards are full of great men and women who never became great because they did not give their ability responsibility. This untapped ability is called potential. Each of us comes into the world pregnant with unlimited potential. We are capable of much more than we have already done. Unless we expose, during the course of our lives, all that God placed within us for the good of mankind, our potential will be aborted.
The graveyards are full of great men and women who never became great because they did not give their ability responsibility.
Abortion is one of today’s most controversial issues. It is polarizing many communities. It has also become a hot political issue in many countries where it is used to manipulate the reins of power. Many people think of this concern as a recent one. Although it is causing much stir in our societies, the concern over abortion is not new. The truth is that the abortion issue is as old as time. The fact of abortion is as old as man. Abortion is not limited to the physical termination of a fetus in a mother’s womb.
The first act of abortion was performed in the Garden of Eden when the first man, Adam, was given the responsibility of carrying the entire human race within his loins. In Adam was the seed of all generations and the strength of all mankind. God’s instructions to Adam were very simple and clear:
You are free to eat from every tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16-17).
To surely die means to definitely cease from manifesting the fruitfulness that exists within a thing. Death, in its simplest form, is the termination of potential. To abort means to terminate life before its full potential has or can be realized, before the person, animal, plant, etc. is given an opportunity to fulfill its full potential.
God created everything with the hidden ability to fulfill itself. The Bible’s record of creation states that the seed of everything is in itself to produce after its kind (see Genesis 1:12). All creation possesses the hidden ability to be everything it is supposed to be: In every seed there is a forest;
in every fish, a school;
in every bird, a flock;
in every cow, a herd;
in every girl, a woman;
in every boy, a man; and
in every man, a nation.
It is important for us to remember that every great tree was once a seed, every woman was once a fetus, every man was once a boy, and every nation was once in the loins of a man. It is also interesting to note that whenever God deals with man, He always speaks in terms of the generational seed within his loins. In God’s calculation of life, one equals many, little equals much, small equals great, and less equals more. Therefore, to abort a seed is to kill a forest, to abort a cow is to kill a herd, to abort a boy is to kill a man, to abort a girl is to kill a woman, and to abort a man is to destroy a nation. God told Abraham, the great patriarch of history,
I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing….and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:2-3).
Abortion is the ultimate tragedy. It robs life of its essence and denies the future its value.
-Releasing your Potential (Exposing the hidden you)
The Tragedy of Unreleased Potential Pt.1 By Myles Munroe
