“To criticize or to find fault with someone, is to fail to see that person in his full possibilities. It is to see his many weaknesses rather than his many strengths. It is an attempt, albeit unconsciously and usually unsuccessfully, to get the other person to conform to our way of thinking. This alienates. The irony is that the critic himself is usually the one who is blind. To accept people as they are and for what they are, to place confidence in them and to encourage them, is to help them become better than they are. To treat people as if they were what they ought to be, is to help them to become what they are capable of becoming. Within every person is the capacity to become something greater than he now is. It is possible for each of us to become better and to help others to become what they ought to be.”
In thinking about the above thoughts presented by Mr. McElroy, the following is a summary of my own thoughts along this same line:
1) Always criticizing and finding fault with people, is to fail to see them reaching their full potential.
2) Emphasizing an individual’s strengths, placing confidence in their abilities, and encouraging them to achieve their goals, are ways to help them “see” and thus reach their full potential.
3) Treating people as if they had “already attained” their maximum level of achievement, is to give them the power to become what they are capable of becoming. This principle is readily seen in the following statement by our Lord: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received [are receiving] it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24 ESV; cf. James 1:5-8 ESV).
Napoleon Hill once stated: “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” (source); i.e., Genesis 11:1-6.
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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