{"id":23974,"date":"2026-03-27T11:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=23974"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:42:45","slug":"expectation-march-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=23974","title":{"rendered":"Expectation (March 27)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Download MP3 Audio Track<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don\u2019t be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying” (Merry Browne).<\/p>\n

OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE POWERFUL FORCES THAT ACT ON OTHER PEOPLE\u2019S LIVES. High expectations pull people upward; low expectations drag them downward. It behooves us to be careful about what we expect of others. What we expect is often what we get.<\/p>\n

The suggestion that we should expect the best in those around us is often met with cynicism, if not outright mockery. \u201cIt\u2019s naive to expect the best,\u201d some would say. I well remember a college teacher who told me, \u201cGary, nobody ever went broke underestimating the ignorance of the human race.\u201d He said it humorously, tongue-in-cheek, but I\u2019m afraid there are a number of people who would say that and not be joking at all. In fact, most people seem to think cynicism is the safest path to follow: \u201cExpect the worst, and then if anything better than that takes place, you\u2019ll be pleasantly surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whatever safety there may be in cynicism, I know of no world-class performers in any field who take that approach. Vince Lombardi would never have told his football players, \u201cNow, guys, I don\u2019t really expect that you\u2019re going to play up to your potential, but if you do, that will be okay. I\u2019ll take it as a pleasant surprise.\u201d No, high achievers from around the world have always expected the best \u2014 both of themselves and everybody they collaborated with.<\/p>\n

The truth is, it\u2019s not naive to expect the best of others, especially our friends and family. The best that others can offer may not be perfect, but whatever their best is, they are capable of offering that to the world, and it\u2019s not unrealistic to expect them to do so.<\/p>\n

We are motivated by \u201cgreat expectations\u201d (to borrow Charles Dickens\u2019s phrase). They give us energy to \u201cgo for the good stuff.\u201d And so it makes sense to do three things: (1) nourish high expectations of ourselves, (2) surround ourselves with friends who\u2019ll keep our expectations high, and (3) influence others to expect higher things for themselves. In every way, it\u2019s wise to encourage hope<\/em> in the hearts of our fellow travelers. It\u2019s among the greatest of all gifts, and it\u2019s responsible for many of the best things in life.<\/p>\n

“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations” (Patricia Neal).<\/p>\n

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download MP3 Audio Track “Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don\u2019t be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying” (Merry Browne). OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE POWERFUL FORCES THAT ACT ON OTHER PEOPLE\u2019S LIVES. High expectations pull people upward; low expectations drag them downward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[7958,5265],"class_list":["post-23974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-devotionals","tag-expectation","tag-march"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}