THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT

Welcome to my blog. Let me quickly share with you five important secrets that can make a person great before falling in their grave. It is just an excerpt from my first book, "The Opportunity of Life." Enjoy it!

1.  God is always involved

Every function of personal fulfillment (what is called greatness) has a God factor in it. In fact, it is not by mistake that the word “Great” begins with “G” (God). Only those that know and believe that there is a hidden power (a spiritual force) within them can start moving in the positive direction of personal fulfillment.

Where are you going without God? Don’t you know that the purpose of a product is only revealed by the manufacturer of the product? Life is too short to spend a significant part of it speculating, playing and experimenting to find out the use of it. The surest way is: Get God involved now and let Him take the steering and see the result. Do you really know the difference between a small person and a great person? A small person may stand on others, but a great person stands on God.

Don’t use God, let God use you. I agree with Rick Warren that, “Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, and not vice versa, and life is about God using you for his purposes, not you using him for your own purpose.” I like how Dr. Yaw Perbi wrote it in his book Youth Power “…the way to find yourself is to lose yourself in God.” Don’t forget that the opportunity of life is not to please you but to fulfill the purpose of God in the world. The ultimate purpose of life is to please (glorify) God and not to please yourself.

Our Creator has categorically stated, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.”^** If you want to be great, lay down your pride and pick up your cross. When you get the cross, you are certainly going to get the crown of greatness. Don’t allow Pride to hold you down. I like how John Mason wrote it, “The only reason pride will lift you up is to let you down.” There’s no sin without the letter “I” If you find yourself struggling with that spirit of pride, let me recommend this remedy: go visit the mortuary.

I understand that most people don’t really understand why God doesn’t want to be understood. In their doubt and confusion He has still allowed them to have the opportunity of life. We simply don’t understand God. The truth of the matter is: God does not want to be understood, He only wants to be glorified and appreciated. That’s all. In their confusion, some people sit down and confess, “I can’t understand my life.” The right way to say it is, “I don’t understand my God” because there’s no life without God.

You sit at where you are now and say, “See my friends are traveling, having good jobs, building nice homes and buying nice cars. See my friends are graduating from universities with good degrees; some are even starting their own businesses.” But you are forgetting to look at your other group of friends who have made the hospital their home because of HIV/AIDS. Why are you not considering your other friends who made the ghetto their home because they are so frustrated about life? You can’t see your other group of friends who are now in the grave and in the mortuary. Now let me give you my humble advice: don’t fight to understand God, just appreciate Him. His way is not your way, neither are His thoughts, your thoughts. 

You may have good intentions, but if it’s not God’s intention, then you are wrong. Let God be the center of everything you do. “In everything you do, put God first and He will direct you and He shall crown your efforts with success” (Proverbs 3:6 TLB). The proto principle says, “In all your getting, get God first.” If God is at the center of your life, the circumference will take care of itself.

What is the use of climbing when you know your ladder is lain against the wrong wall.  You cannot bear much fruit if you are not connected to the vine. The most important reason why you should surrender to the power of God on this journey of greatness is He knows more about life than you do. Without God, you can do nothing and this is exactly why you cannot spell “Great” without “G”- God. 

Thank you for learning the first secret. You can come back later to learn the second secret of a great person, which is about the 'r' "in Great" -Relationships.