THE FIRST E OF EMPOWERMENT

If you’ve been following my website or hearing me speak, you’ve probably heard me talk about the Three E’s of Empowerment:

Enlighten people with the truth, encourage them in their calling, and equip them to do what God designed them to do.

When all three come together, a person becomes truly empowered.

Today starts our journey with the first E.

The foundation for everything else:

WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?

Enlightenment is recognizing the truth of who you are in God’s design.

Scripture describes us as “His workmanship” His craftsmanship, His handiwork, His masterpiece.

But many people walk through life unaware of that truth. Buried beneath insecurity, fear, comparison, and the pressures of the world, they miss the identity God already spoke over them.

To be enlightened is to realize:

“I was created by God, on purpose, with purpose.”

It’s that awakening moment where identity becomes clear, calling becomes possible, and confidence becomes rooted in something deeper than circumstances.

WHY SO MANY PEOPLE MISS THEIR PURPOSE

So many individuals live disconnected from purpose. Not because they don’t have one, but because no one ever helped them see it.

I know that feeling too well.

For years, I believed a lie that shaped every decision I made:

“I’m going to be stuck in poverty for the rest of my life.”

That single false belief pushed me toward choices that weren’t aligned with God’s call on my life. Some weren’t harmful choices, but they also weren’t life-giving. They kept me chasing survival instead of stepping into my assignment.

Fear-based decisions will always shrink what faith is trying to expand.

And without enlightenment, people settle for less than what God created them to be.

HOW GOD USED OTHERS TO SHOW ME THE TRUTH

One of the most powerful parts of enlightenment is realizing this:

God often uses people to reveal the truth we can’t see ourselves.

Throughout my life, God placed people in my path who boldly called out gifts, strengths, and potential that I couldn’t see on my own. They spoke truth over me when I felt unqualified or unsure. They refused to let me bury the gifts God had placed in my life.

These people were lanterns, shining light into the places where I only saw limitations.

Their voices didn’t just encourage me.

They ENLIGHTENED me.

And their faithfulness is a major reason I’m walking in my calling today.

THE MOMENT MY LIFE FLIPPED

There was a season of my life where everything felt like it was falling apart.

I gave up the house I bought.

I felt directionless.

I realized the career path I had chosen wasn’t aligned with who God designed me to be, and it drove me away from the Church.

I felt empty, lost, and spiritually dry.

But long before that season arrived, God had planted a seed of truth in my life that He would later use to guide me.

I remember exactly when that seed was planted.

It was the first time I ever got caught stealing.

The incident led to a school suspension, tension at home, and a heavy cloud of shame hanging over me.

At that moment, I believed I was the mistake I had made.

But my youth pastor, Josh, refused to let that lie settle over my life.

Pastor Josh and I friends and colleagues in ministry

He showed up and simply said:

“Come on, let’s go for a ride.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, I braced myself for a lecture.

But instead, he started talking about who I was, not what I had done.

He spoke about my leadership.

My influence.

My potential.

My God-given design.

And then he said something that became a foundational truth for me:

“Ryan, this isn’t who you are. Don’t let this moment tell you a story God never wrote for you.”

That ride didn’t erase my consequences, but it awakened something in me.

It was the first time someone illuminated a truth I couldn’t yet see:

God’s purpose for my life was bigger than my mistakes.

Years later, when my life flipped upside down and I was starting over, those truths came flooding back.

I remembered the mentors who spoke into my life when I was too young to understand the weight of their words.

And God used those memories, those moments of enlightenment, to steer me back toward His calling.

It’s one of the reasons I’m passionate about student ministry today.

You never know when a truth spoken into a young person becomes the anchor they cling to years later.

Speaking to 200 kids at Heritage Academy

ENLIGHTENMENT ISN’T JUST ABOUT US

Enlightenment doesn’t stop with discovering your own truth.

It also means being willing to speak truth into someone else’s life.

There are people walking through the world carrying God-given light, but they don’t recognize it yet.

They can’t see what God has placed in them.

And sometimes all it takes is someone willing to slow down, pay attention, and say:

“I see something in you.”

“God has gifted you.”

“You were made for something meaningful.”

When we speak that truth, we become part of someone’s spiritual legacy.

We become vessels God uses to awaken purpose in others.

And someday, they may look back and say,

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if someone hadn’t enlightened me with God’s truth.”

THE HARD PART: PAYING ATTENTION

The most difficult part of enlightenment is simply noticing.

Noticing the gifts people carry.

Noticing the opportunities to speak life.

Noticing the potential in those who feel overlooked or unseen.

Noticing the purpose hidden beneath insecurity or struggle.

God absolutely can call someone directly, but more often than not,

He uses relationships to reveal purpose.

I am living proof of that.

If people hadn’t intentionally spoken truth over my life, I would not be in ministry today.

I would not be leading students.

I would not be walking in the joy and calling I now carry.

Enlightenment happens when we pay attention. Deeply, intentionally, and prayerfully.

THE FIRST STEP TO CHANGING THE WORLD

If we want to change the world through Jesus, it starts here:

Enlightenment → recognizing and sharing God’s truth about identity and purpose.

When people understand who they are in Christ, everything else becomes possible.

Encouragement makes sense.

Equipping becomes fruitful.

Empowerment becomes inevitable.

Enlightenment is the spark that ignites the rest.

And if each of us committed to calling out the God-given purpose in the people around us,

we’d watch God transform lives, families, communities, and generations

one enlightened heart at a time.