The word endow means to enrich, to furnish.
It is a part of what we are to do as a believer. While you do not find the word endow, you find the thought of endowing
“to provoke [one another] unto love and to good works.” A part of what we are to do as believers is
to enrich others, furnish them with a desire through our expectations of them.
John Goetsch writes: In the musical My Fair Lady, British speech professor Henry Higgins makes a bet
with a friend that he can transform a poor Cockney flower girl, Eliza
Doolittle, into a refined, blue-blood society lady. To assure his success, the professor not only
works with the girl on her manners, speech, and dress; he also spreads the word
that he will escort a refined, beautiful princess to
Weeks later, when the door to
Higgins’s gilded carriage opens, a gasp goes up as the crowds see what they
expect to see: a dainty, elegant princess.
Throughout the evening, Eliza’s speech and actions are profoundly shaped
by the city’s expectations of her. At
one point the professor asks the orchestra conductor his opinion of the
“princess.”
“I’ve seen hundreds of balls all
through
In the middle of the play Eliza
makes a profound statement. She says the
real issue isn’t how she acts, but what people expect of her. And she says it was Professor Higgins’s expectations
that caused her to change the most. That
is how a girl of the streets becomes a “fair lady.”
Expectations are a powerful tool,
especially in the ministry of a mentor.
Many young people fail today because that’s what everyone around them
expects – a failure. When children are
constantly told, “You can’t do anything right” or, “I knew you’d mess that up”
or, “You are so stupid,” what do we expect them to think of themselves? Remember, they are the followers – we are
supposed to be leading them. The product
cannot rise above the pattern.
✞ If you don’t endow them, don’t expect.
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