Excellence: The desire to want to give our all every day. To always be open to learning, growing, improving, and finding more genuine ways to serve and give of ourselves.
I was an athlete as a kid and have always had my favorite sports of which I’ve been a fan. My favorite athletes have always been the ones who seemed to play every game with everything they had. Even if they weren’t the best players, I still chose them as my favorites. Caitlin Clark, this year’s women’s college basketball player of the year is like this. She is always striving, always hustling, and contending in every possession, for every play.
The Motivation Behind Excellence
I wish I could say that I’m like that 24/7 in the whole of my life. I’m not, but I want to be and it is my endeavor. So, what motivates the men and women who show great effort in their lives? I believe there are a few things that create that kind of effort, and the first is that we must love what we’re pursuing.
Toward the end of winter in my 20th year of life, I became aware of God’s love for me. It became personal – very personal. It wasn’t His love for others “like” me, or for a certain church group, or type of person. I came to realize that His love is directed toward one – sinful, selfish, unholy, disinterested me. The more I grasped His love, and the more I read of what God was like, the more I wanted to follow Him. With each passing month, I learned truth after truth that added up to many reasons for me to love God in return.
The way I began to recognize and experientially know God’s love was when I began to see the true ugliness of my own sin. When I thought about all the ways my purpose and goals were centered around my own self pleasure; how often I put myself above others; and the host of other self-seeking attributes that were evident in my life, and that none of it had kept God away from reaching out to me, my heart was captured. Soon after, I began reading the New Testament and phrases like “bought with a price” (I Corinthians 6:20), Paul calling himself a debtor (Romans 1:14), and the Lord’s teaching in Luke 7:47 that says the one who is forgiven much, loves much, all served to reinforce the undeserved gift of God’s love I had received.
Excellent Examples to Follow
Friends, if you aren’t astounded by the depths of your sinfulness, then it’s highly likely that you’re not able to love as you should or may desire. If you find yourself offended by the Apostle Paul describing himself, and calling us to be slaves unto God, you may need to question your own motivation toward excellence. Rather than being offended, this phrase reminds me of how privileged I am to be His. Yes, I can say with Paul, I am a slave – but a free slave; a slave by choice. And as such, my desire for excellence in my life arises out of the love I have for the One who paid the ultimate price for my salvation.
God so loved us that He gave the most valuable of all He is and had – His Son, Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, and Redeemer. So, I would say that the best pursuit of excellence starts with love, followed by devotion, for Jesus as our Lord. It is good to think of myself as a debtor because that is what I am. And when we experientially know about God and honestly acknowledge what we know about ourselves, is it not reasonable to present ourselves to God with excellence? (Romans 12:1).
An Excellence That’s Counter-Cultural
I don’t want to limp past the finish line of life. Nor do I want my last years to be marked by complacency and mediocrity. I don’t want to make much of things that are truly of very small relevance. God has not called me to retire and only focus on relaxing and enjoying myself, as I go from pleasure to pleasure. That mentality is what marked my life before I met Jesus. No! I want to finish my race strong and cross the finish line having emptied myself of everything I could do and give.
Friends, what I’m describing isn’t easy and it certainly doesn’t appear to be very popular these days. Although I suspect living with excellence from this framework of thinking has always come with great opposition. For that reason, and if you desire to live with excellence as a slave to God, I want to share a few suggestions.
- First, Scripture teaches us that those with whom we spend time will influence our behaviors (Proverbs 13:20). So, surround yourselves with God-loving, Kingdom-focused friends.
- Second, ask God to daily remind you of how undeserving you were and still would be outside of Jesus’ redemptive work.
- Third, soak in God’s Word. Choose to fill your mind and heart with the Bread of Life. God’s Word provides the regular reminders we all need of who we are and who God is.
- Finally, pray and cry out to God for His help. Even though I’ve been a Jesus follower for 51 years, I need Him no less than I needed him at 20.
So, why pursue excellence? Because God deserves, more than anyone or anything else, nothing less than excellence! Let’s run our races, through the heartaches, disappointments, and difficulties, continually keeping our eyes fixed on our most wonderful Savior. And when we do, a crown will be waiting (2 Timothy 4:8), and more importantly, we will rejoice that we fully presented our hearts and lives to our blessed Savior with excellence.
