‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 -
Every child of God has within them a divine spark of excellence just waiting to burst to forth. Sadly there is an appalling lack of excellence in the body of Christ. Too many Christians are content with being “just good enough.” Spiritual growth means little to them, so they wallow beneath God’s divine standard. It matters not that excellence is God’s will for them. They need to come to grips with the fact that Almighty God recreated them to soar into heaven, having lived this life to the max.
Peter said: ‘Add to your faith virtue’ (2 Pet. 1:5), meaning we are to supplement our faith with a generous dose of moral excellence. As people remade after God’s own heart, we ought to naturally pursue excellence after salvation, bringing honor to our Father in heaven. This excellence is doing what God would have us do, living like shining cities on a thousand hills. Believers who live this way have the great privilege of glorifying God daily.
True excellence is being ‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Pet. 1:4). This happens when we inherit faith from God and strive to walk in His statutes. David said: ‘To the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight’ (Ps. 16:3). We are to do everything excellently, so Paul said: ‘Whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him’ (Col. 3:17). Don’t live mediocre lives but pursue excellence by submitting your will to God. ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way’ (Ps. 37:23). Stop wasting time on things of this world rather than things of God.
What we believe determines how we behave. Godly integrity aligns our thoughts and behavior. An excellent spirit is a spirit of integrity. Never pray for excellence until you’re willing to go the extra mile. Strive for perfection, even knowing you won’t be fully like Christ in this life. Give it all you’ve got. Put your hand to the plow and don’t look back. Set a high standard by Christ’s power, rejecting worldly mediocrity. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matt. 5:41). We are in the world, not of the world (John 15:19). We are to ‘come out from among them and be separate’ (2 Cor. 6:17). As Solomon said: ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might’ (Eccles. 9:10).
Solomon followed God’s blueprint and built the Temple with excellence. Believers must follow God’s blueprint for their life, working with integrity, godliness, and excellence. Life is but a vapor, so make it count. Whatever you do, give it all you’ve got and then some. Strive each day to live life more abundantly (John 10:10). Excellence is found in giving God your best. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14), so learn from mistakes. Remember the heroes of faith like Paul and Moses whenever trials knock you back. Fall to your knees, grit your teeth, and press ahead by God’s power. Each second is a gift, but each day is a chance to compromise; to be less than what God made you to be. Fight that temptation and let the fact you’re called to excellence win out. Never lose sight of the goal “to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
Excellence doesn’t come to us. We must go after it. Setbacks will come but people of God use failure to motivate them to press on harder. Excellence is won with hard work, sacrifice, and, most of all, reliance on God. It’s a struggle to stay motivated, so don’t focus on the trial you’re in, but look to the goal ahead. Remind yourself you’re not yet where you’re supposed to be, but know the whole time that Christ will bring you there. Excellence isn’t about being better than others. It’s about exerting maximum effort and giving God your all. Pursuing excellence will help you succeed, but pursuing success won’t make you excellent.
The pursuit of excellence should be a most exciting and enjoyable experience. The joy of working toward a goal is key to our well-being. A person who has no goals to reach is lost, aimlessly wandering without a purpose. Psalm 29:18 says: ‘Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.’ But in Christ we have the greatest goal. The goal to walk in excellence and “be perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Yet for a child of God, a goal is not joyful unless it has sufficient challenge. And it is our duty to meet the challenge of the highest calling in Christ (Phil. 3:14).
Jesus never compromised His standard of excellence. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). Like Christ, we must commit to the pursuit of excellence. As Hebrews said: ‘Let us strip off every weight that slows us down. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus’ (12:1-2). Paul said: ‘Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain’ (1 Cor. 15:58). Pursuing excellence with all your heart leads to joy unspeakable and great satisfaction, but know that Christian excellence is not the same as perfection.
Perfection is the highest level of excellence, but excellence is the journey we take to get there. Excellence is doing the best with what we have. It’s producing the best we’re capable of. It’s holding nothing back. Most people don’t meditate on excellence, but true children of God think about it daily. They’re Spirit-driven to grow into people of excellence. So don’t put off the pursuit of excellence. Start right now. Whatever it is you’re doing this moment, do it to the highest level. Then the Spirit of excellence will gradually make you into a perfect person. This will require regular evaluation as you assess your efforts. So before you go to bed at night, review all you’ve done that day and weigh what you could have done differently to glorify God.
Moving toward excellence means moving away from mediocrity. Recall how as a young man ‘Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man’ (Luke 2:52). Know that excellence is living a life of steady change. Change is inevitable and important as only people of excellence go ‘from glory to glory’ (2 Cor. 3:18). Excellence is also hard to hide. The servants of Boaz reported the long hours Ruth spent caring for Naomi (Ruth 2:11). Such excellence doesn’t require promotion, but promotes itself. It’s obvious to others when you perform at high levels. You can hide flaws but you can’t hide excellence.
Give speedy attention to your boss’ requests as people of excellence are diligent. They instantly accept assignments (Titus 2:9-10), it not being our divine destiny to act as idle bystanders in this life. We weren’t recreated to waste time but to redeem it (Eph. 5:16). God has big plans for kingdom citizens. As Paul said: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of men, the things God has prepared for those who love Him’ (1 Cor. 2:9). So get on your knees and ask God for an excellent spirit. Ask Him to work out your goals for His glory and to maximize your ministry as ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
The Bible is replete with ordinary people who overcame extraordinary obstacles to do great things for God. They had inside them spirits of excellence. Their hearts and minds allowed them to maximize the path God put them on. One such man was Daniel. He grew into a prestigious man, rising to prominence in a foreign land due to his excellent spirit (Dan. 6:3). A faithful follower of God, Daniel was the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deut. 28:13). His spirit opened doors that would have otherwise stayed shut. I mean, who would have thought an Israelite exile would so distinguish himself as to be put over all the whole Persian Empire?
Daniel had what nobody else did because the spirit in him was rare. He was an outsider who got promoted so high that others sought to topple him. They felt entitled to his position. But we learn from Daniel that an excellent spirit takes you further than a sense of entitlement. You can be an alien outcast, but with an excellent spirit and a good work ethic you’ll rise to the top of whatever it is God directs you to do. Daniel never did just enough to get by. Just enough was never enough. Mediocrity isn’t in God’s vocabulary and it wasn’t in Daniel’s either.
God does ‘exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think’ (Eph. 3:20). Daniel knew there is a connection between our excellence and the glory God gets. Daniel’s faith let him know he was to shine before men that they might see his good works and glorify his Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). God isn’t glorified with mediocrity. So look to Daniel and ask yourself if others see your excellence and know only God could have helped you do it. Does your work glorify God? Do others see in you a godly spirit of excellence?
Commit to something and bring excellence to it, all that God might be magnified. The clock is always ticking. Now is the time to do the best you possibly can. As Proverbs teaches: ‘Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men’ (22:29). And when you stand before kings or our fellow men and women, be ready to give an explanation for the excellent spirit God has blessed you with so that your gospel witness might be genuine and compelling.
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