Stretching

I was reading an article the other day about Kentucky basketball player Demarcus Cousins.  It seems Demarcus has had a reputation for unused potential caused by attitude issues.  High school coaches in Alabama knew when playing Demarus that if they got him upset, he would beat himself.  In the article Coach John Calipari wrote this about Demarcus: 

"His whole life, when he was challenged to do stuff he didn’t want to do, he’d react like a 13-year-old,” Calipari said. “So when he wasn’t in shape and we were doing conditioning, he’d start having fits.  “I’d say, ‘Fine, go on the side until you can finish these drills.' When he figured out that I wasn’t budging and that none of it would work with me and that it wasn’t going to upset our practice, he slowly started coming around.  When he found that by getting in shape and doing it right and listening, he was being elevated as a player, he was like, ‘I’m going to listen and do what the guy tells me to do.’”

Notice the highlighted part of Coach Calipari's quote.  In other words, when Demarcus really started stretching himself out of his comfort zone, his potential as a player grew tremendously.  As Kentucky fans have seen this year, the Demarcus of November is not the Demarcus of March.  His teachable spirit has elevated his game to a new level.

As Christians, the same is true for us.  If we begin to get into shape spiritually, have a teachable spirit, and begin to stretch our faith, our potential for the kingdom of God is multiplied.  Philippians 4:13 reminds us, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  As we focus on discovering our God-given potential, we need to understand the necessity of stretching our potential.  The promise of Philippians 4:13 should spur us on to greater heights in our Christian lives.

What are the benefits of stretching our God-given potential? Why is it some people are not stretching in their God-given potential?

Come see us Sunday.  We will talk about that.
Pastor Jeff