All things are possible, only believe

There is a chorus we used to sing in youth conference during evening vespers that goes like this:

“Only believe,

Only believe;

All things are possible,

Only believe.”

In human life this is the greatest force in all the world. This is why the most important thing parents can do for their children is to help them believe in themselves. We do this by giving them things to do, helping them to succeed and so grow in self-confidence, and then assigning bigger tasks.

In the field of education, experts tell us that most students fail because in the lower grades they never did get “the succeeding habit.” No one ever helped them do something well and then said, “That’s fine! You did it! I knew you could!”

Recently I heard about a man who had been a salesman for a large company for seven years. During that time his commissions had averaged $7,700 a year—for that time a good, above average income.

One day at year’s end this man got to thinking, “I can do a lot better than I have been doing.” So he set to work to beat his best. The following year his commission went from $7,700 to over $22,000.

For seven years his accomplishments had been in line with what he believed he could do. Then when his opinion of his abilities changed—when he saw himself selling three times as much—his commissions tripled.

This is true of each and every one of us, don’t you think? There isn’t a one of us who couldn’t be a better person; not a one of us who couldn’t do far, far more if he only believed he could. We achieve far below what we are capable of achieving simply because we lack confidence in ourselves.

Jesus never ceased to be amazed at this fact about the people around him. Over and over in the gospel records we read of his exclaiming, “Oh, you of little faith.”

The Master of Men was forever seeing tremendous potential and possibilities in the lives of people. The words of encouragement and challenge which he spoke then, he speaks to you and me today.

Listen again to his words:

“If you can believe! All things are possible to him who believes!”

Clyde Nichols is a retired minister, having served First Christian Church in Temple for 27 years as senior minister. He is the author of three books of devotionals and writes a religious column for several Texas newspapers, including The Reporter.