“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 NASB

In our society, we spend a lot of time watching people we deem powerful or celebrities. We want to buy the things they endorse and we want to donate to causes that they champion. Yes, a notable leader or celebrity can bring attention to a cause, however, I know from experience that forward movement in a cause requires people working in the trenches day in and day out. People who receive little or no credit. People who may never be quoted in a book or interviewed on a television show. People who have translated their personal passion into personal power to make something tangible happen.

In your own life is there something you really want to accomplish? Is there a cause that you truly believe in that could use your energy? I believe that you and I can accomplish incredible things in our lives if we would translate our personal passion into personal power. We can only do this if we embrace our power. This may at first sound narcissistic, but I think that if we turn more attention on ourselves and our own capacity, we would be pleasantly surprised. Here are three suggestions:

1. Assign value to yourself.

One negative consequence of paying too much attention to what celebrities are doing is that we may devalue who we are or the accomplishments we make. We may judge ourselves harshly and/or downplay our own abilities. Yet, each one of us has value and purpose. According to the Apostle Paul, we are God’s workmanship with a purpose embedded in us that is waiting to unfold. Not only that, God was pleased with everything He created, including us:

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good…” Genesis 1:31 NASB

Embrace yourself as someone who has value, has something to offer, and is destined to make a great contribution to the world around you.

2. Listen to your own ideas.

Have you ever had a good idea? Sometimes, ideas come in fragments. Keep track of your ideas by writing them down. Thomas Edison is a good example of someone who listened to his own ideas. He never stopped listening to his ideas, writing them down, and testing them out in his lab.

3. Try your own ideas.

Trying out your own ideas is a form of self-actualization. Dictionary.com defines self-actualization as:

Self-Actualization: noun, psychology; the achievement of one’s full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.

The term self-actualization was popularized by a U.S. psychologist and philosopher, Abraham Maslow. For me, self-actualization requires assigning value to yourself, listening to yourself, and trying out your own ideas. Being self-actualized is to embrace your own power.

“Just try. Nothing begets nothing. Something might beget something really good.” ~ Guillermo Alvarez Paz

Here are a few pictures of our Cambodia November 2014 Mission trip turning our personal passion into personal power during the opening days of the 1st Light of Future School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We provided school supplies, deworming pills, vitamins and conducted a personal hygiene class on hand washing and hair washing!