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Slaying Your Giants
Tom Barnard

ne of my favorite writers of motivational stuff is Chris Widener. His specialty is helping people turn their potential into performance. His free newsletter, “Made for Success,” should be read by Christian leaders, whether they are lay leaders or clergy leaders. Check him out on his web-site, MadeforSuccess.com.

In a recent newsletter, entitled “Slaying Your Own Giants,” Chris outlined seven guidelines for slaying the giants that clutter the landscape in your life and work. He based these guidelines on the story of David in the Old Testament. Due to space and copyright limitations I won’t quote his entire newsletter, but I will give you his seven titles from the old biblical story. The notes that follow the titles are mine.

·        Expect giants to block the way to the Promised Land. David’s giant was named Goliath. He was one very fearful adversary. He intimidated his enemies wherever he went. He was a head taller than anyone in the land. And he had a wicked reputation. We all have giants, whether we want to admit the fact or not. There is no clear sailing on the oceans of our life. People will disagree with us; some will challenge us. No one achieves excellence without overcoming barriers in the search for greatness.

·        Attack your giant for a reason bigger than your own victory. In David’s case, no hero stepped forward to face Goliath. Fear gripped all of Saul’s army. Even though David’s older brothers were present that day, they cowered along with everyone else. The honor of God was at stake. David took on the enemy for a reason bigger than himself. The cause transcended the boy.

·        Recognize your own strengths. You have them. You may call them something else, and you may deny that you have anything to contribute to God’s cause. But you do. If you can’t see your strengths, ask God to point them out to you. He loves to do this, and the Enemy hates it when it happens.

·        Don’t use someone else’s armor. Saul’s armor was custom-made for Saul, not the child-man David. God will use your talents and the skills you have honed to complement your determination to succeed. Remember, there is no one else being given your opportunity to be used of God. You are it.

·        Take five weapons, though you may use only one. The Boy Scouts have a slogan: Be Prepared. It is an axiom of life for bold achievers. God may not use all the spiritual gifts he has given you, but he will use at least one—the one that will be the key to all others. David needed only one to do the job.

·        Run toward the giant, not away from it. The Enemy has many weapons to defeat you. He uses them all. He will bad-mouth you, point out your faults, ridicule your preparation, and even whisper the names of ten people who could be a better job. He invented the “hunker-down” mentality. Hunker never won a battle. Advance is what works. Advance now is even better.

·        Make sure your giant is dead after it falls. Do you remember what young David did immediately after Goliath was down? He made sure the giant never took another breath. Don’t even think about giving your giant a second chance. When the giant in your life is no longer breathing, make sure it is  permanent. Bury your giant on the spot.

What is the lesson to be learned here? You can conquer the giant(s) in your life, with God’s help. God has a “promised land” he has prepared for you. It is spelled V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! There is even a second lesson to learn: When the one giant in your life is dead, other giants will get the message, and they may abandon the effort once they see what happened to the last one. Who will be the last person standing? You! And Jesus will be standing beside you, celebrating with you! Start training today!