Whether You Think You Can or Can't

I once heard the quote, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

This is so true. If we don’t think we can be saints, if we don’t think we can be holy, we will prove ourselves right. It’s the self-fulfilling prophecy—if you think you’re going to fail at something, chances are you will.

Now, there are plenty of saints who did not think of themselves as holy. They saw their sinfulness. They recognized how unworthy they were. But here’s the key difference.

When I say I think I can be a saint, it has nothing to do with my own power and strength and ability. It has to do with trust in God and trust in His mercy.

When I say I don’t think I can be a saint, I am refusing to trust. I don’t believe in His mercy.

That’s what we see with the saints. They trusted in the Lord, not in themselves.

When you trust in the Lord, when you grow closer to Him, you can’t help but see yourself in its true light—weak and sinful and in need of His healing. Dependent on His mercy.

But if we tell ourselves we’ll never be a saint, we’ll never open ourselves up to that grace. We’ll never open ourselves up to the Lord to work in our lives to make sainthood a reality for us.

It’s not belief in ourselves. It’s belief in Him.

Belief that He can do what we hope He can.