What is excellence?

To do things with excellence begins with doing them for God's honor. This is loving God with all our heart first, then with all our soul, mind, and ²strength. This addresses motive (heart) i.e. why we act. It is the 1st thing on the list for good reason.

When our heart -- the why -- is right, this is displayed through our words and actions i.e. to say and do things in such a way that others see that God is worthy of all honor - we value God by our actions. 

We ¹value God first and foremost, -- as well as others -- by what we do. This is to love God with all our ²strength - effort/energy - in addition to loving Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. 

The greater our value of the God of perfect excellence, the more we will be moved to excellent conduct. 

This excellence is honoring God before others as well as being honoring to God and being honored by God. If you've got it, bring it -- give it everything you have...for God's honor. This is the "why" of excellence.

What about the how of excellence? How do we do things with excellence?  

1. Bring everything you have (gifts/skills/resources) to a task. Leave it all on the field, as they say in sports.

2. Exercise those abilities diligently - with discipline i.e. practice - in carrying out that task. Practice does indeed make "perfect." It is stewarding well the gifts God gives us.

3. Do so with a servant's attitude (i.e. humility) recognizing all we are - with our unique talents and abilities - and have is a gift to use to honor the Giver. 

Valuing others.

To value others through excellent effort is to also honor/value God. Likewise, to honor/value God truly results in doing things excellently for others. 

Excellence toward non-believers

A non-believing boss (and others in general) may not agree with you and even dislike your beliefs but if your excellent effort helps them or their company do well and makes them look good, and improves their bottom line, they will appreciate it and value you for it. We see this throughout Joseph's life. 

Gen 39:22  And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.

If we bring value to others, whether they are believers or not, we will be valued; not to gain praise from ourselves but to bring praise (value) to those we serve (which often results in our being praised, though this isn't our focus). We do this ultimately and primarily to bring honor and praise to God, i.e. to value God is to honor him with our conduct and words toward others.

The greatest way to honor God in the marketplace is to do things diligently and excellently with the intent of honoring God. Doing things excellently is a form of worship and praise to God, but praise with and through our actions and projects, not just our mouths. We actually worship God when we live/work with excellence. 

To love others is to treat them with value. We do that practically by diligently applying our skills to help others.

The following passages are examples:

Dan 1:4  youths without blemish, of ³good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

Jer 29:7  But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (it is worth noting this is said to them while they are in exile i.e. their hope wasn't in pleasant circumstances but in their union with God).

Doing things with excellence is a means of sharing the gospel. 

When people discover their beliefs don't fit reality i.e. they don't work --  don't produce excellent results -- this is an opportunity to show the way of Christ does. Our living in such a way that demonstrates Christ's way is superior (not we are superior) helps create dissatisfaction with their beliefs and may cause them to consider the way of Christ.

How do we show this? When his love moves us to produce excellent (and often better) results through our action/efforts and attitude.

Inferior efforts are not expressions of humility 

We often justify inferior efforts so as not to bring attention to ourselves. This has an appearance of humility but is often used as an excuse for less than excellent effort. Accepting shoddy results for the purpose of avoiding praise is false humility. 

Who are the saints? Those God's light shines through the brightest. How do we shine that light? By living excellently in all we say and do i.e. putting our light up on a stand so all can see it, not hiding it under a basket. 

Bring your "A" game for Jesus.  

To whom much is given, much is required.

To further discuss the importance of great effort click here.

For a discussion on when competition is legitimate click here.
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¹we value them only because we first value God. We value God only because he first values/loves us.

²The Bible speaks of loving God with all our heart soul mind and strength. Here I'm addressing strength i.e. effort/action, the last thing listed on how we can love God.

³if our appearance brings praise only to us, it does not honor God. But if it opens up doors and gives us an opportunity to show God's love to others we should make the most of it and use it to do so.

Appearance-attractiveness is valued in our culture so if God has made us attractive in the eyes of the world, use it to bring honor to God. Don't hide the gifts God has given you no matter what they are, but put them to use and on display so others might see them and be drawn to God and give him praise.

I'm referring to grooming, hygiene, and overall presentation. Modesty, of course, is also a part of beauty and a primary guiding principle.

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" Matt 5:14-16

Competition… Good or bad?

Is competition helpful or unhelpful? It can be either or both.

Unhelpful competition is rooted completely in performance for the sake of praise and approval of others. In this scenario, my sense of value is tied directly to doing better than the next person. If I do, I feel worth something and if not; I don't. In a word, if I don't win/produce/perform, I am a "loser." I am useless and worthless. My sense of value rises and falls on others' opinions about my performance.

Competition is so much a part of America's psyche and value system (even more so with older generations who didn't get "participation" trophies) that we often are not even aware of it. Just think of how ¹many folks are glued to their TV on the weekends watching a sports event or game of one kind or another. Maybe more than most, Americans love to win and we love a "winner."

Yet, basing our value on beating the competition is the exact opposite of the Gospel. Our true significance or value is based 1st on who we are as image bearers of God and not what we do. Our good standing and approval by God are based on Christ's efforts and performance, not ours. God's acceptance of us has nothing to do with our performance. In fact, our performance, in this instance, is an affront to the work of Christ. It says His efforts were insufficient for God to receive us, so we must "help him out."

And who are we? We are in God's image and if we are in Christ; we are the beloved children of the all-loving, all-powerful, always present, all-wise, and all-glorious Creator, the most valuable person in the universe.

If we are infinitely valued by the infinitely valuable, what does that say about our value? And if God, the infinitely valuable, cherishes us, how much does it matter what others say or think? That would be putting more weight on the opinion of someone who knows and cares nothing about you vs someone who has perfect knowledge about you and knows and cares about you perfectly. If our happiness rises and falls on the approval and praise of others, we should reassess our understanding of God's infinite love for us, i.e. we may not fully "get it" yet.

When is competition helpful?

Should we live productively with excellence? Yes, because God is most valuable -- most high/excellent and most deserving of our best e.g. all heart, soul, mind, and strength. How we conduct ourselves either honors or dishonors God. By living excellently out of a desire to honor him -- because he first honored/loved us -- we put on display God's great worth/honor. We do not compete to gain the praise, love, and approval of others by being "better" than someone else, but because we already are important, valued, loved, and approved by God, stirring in us the desire to honor him in all we say and do.

Competition can be helpful by bringing the best out of us. It pushes us to be the best we can be. It can raise our level of belief/confidence in what image-bearers are capable of. How much more so, those who are driven by the love and praise of God vs the love and praise of men.

We should welcome competition with others who are better than us. If we are secure in the love of Christ, we will.

When someone excels, it demonstrates a higher level of excellence that ²can be achieved in a given activity.  It raises the bar and sets a higher standard, inspiring others and us to do better. It brings the best out of us and gives us an **example and a higher target to aim for.

When we approach competition in this way, it isn't devastating when we lose. -- If it is, this is a clue that our identity and sense of value are too tied to our beating the other person. We may be disappointed we didn't do better, but only because we know we can and didn't. 

How is this different from typical competition? It is not a matter of being better than someone else but of being inspired to be the best "me" we can be.

When competition challenges us to become better, this is good and helpful. We should welcome and even seek this. Seeking to be the best we can be stretches us to use our gifts/skills to their greatest capacity, i.e. becoming the best stewards of what we are entrusted with -- honoring the giver of those skills.

In Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell had it right when he said: "...to win is to honor Him..."

For more on living with excellence, click here. 

For more on the necessity of great effort, click here. 
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¹Why is watching sports so popular? Not only because we like proving our value by beating the other guy or gal, but we draw our sense of identity from our team being better than the other team. If we don't have the time or are not good enough to play ourselves, we do the next best thing, we cheer for "our team" and feel important when our team wins and feel like a "loser" when they don't. Some folk's identity is so tied up in a sports team that they even get depressed or angry when their team doesn't win. Someone I knew well would go into a deep depression every time their team lost.

²You may have read or recall for years, several attempted to break a sub-4-minute mile. Eventually, Roger Bannister did it. Within weeks, many followed suit, even though attempts to break it before that had been a goal for years. Why? He raised the bar and showed it could be done, helping others to believe they might be able to do it also, inspiring all runners to achieve greater speeds. 

God's love...conditional or unconditional?

What does it mean - and not mean - when were are told God loves us unconditionally? 

* For those who are in Christ, Gods love is totally unconditional. Nothing they do, good or bad, can add to or take away from his infinite never-ending love. 

Rom 5:8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Eph 2:5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved—

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (NOTHING!) 39 ... will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

* However the most stringent conditions required to be in harmony with God and partake in his beauty, love, and joy are still fully in effect. 

Mat 5:17  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Mat 5:18  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 

But they were also perfectly met/satisfied, just not by us. We were not able to meet them. So Jesus met them for us and then assigned/credited his track record of perfect obedience to us as if we lived it. In Christ God now see's us and loves us as if we are perfectly righteous.

*However, once we have received his free offer/gift of righteousness through Christ, our fully taking part in and experiencing this perfectly secured unconditional love is conditional. It is conditioned upon our faith and faithfulness to God. 

We are not talking about securing God's love and acceptance of us (objectively). Christ already accomplished this for us. We are talking about experiencing and participating in this fully secured love. 

There is nothing for us to do to make God's love more certain/secure and us more acceptable i.e nothing we do will add to or take away from that love in and through Christ.

Because of Christ's faithfulness/efforts we are free to pursue God with his perfect love fully set upon us even if we do not pursue him perfectly. Nothing stops God's love; not even our unfaithfulness.

Our being perfectly loved in Christ regardless of our faithfulness frees and empowers us to become perfect in devotion and faithfulness to Christ. 

In summary here are the two contrasting ways we relate to God's love: 

• his love is unconditional -- or rather conditioned upon Christ's efforts 
• our experiencing and fully participating in it is conditional - based on our faith/faithfulness.

This is possibly one of the hardest distinctions to grasp and causes great confusion for many. We mix these up all the time. I did and on occasion have to remind myself of this. 

We must keep these separate while at the same time see how they are vitally connected. The latter -  participating in God's love - is grounded in and flows out of the former - we are perfectly and fully loved in Christ. We must constantly remind ourselves that we are fully accepted and loved no matter what and yet at the same time know that to fully participate in that love, requires our complete trust/obedience. 

Without the former, the latter would not be possible and without the latter, we will never fully participate in the former. In other words, to fully benefit from the former, we must do the latter.

The following verses support the latter i.e. the conditional nature of experiencing/ participating in God's love.  

John 14:21  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest  myself to him.”...

This verse tells us obedience is:

 *evidence of our love for God, not the cause of it 

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me..." 

*it is also the means by which we experience the Fathers love 

"... he who loves me will be loved by my Father...," 

*and Christ's love 

"...and I (Christ) will love him and manifest myself to him.”  

John 14:23  Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Again  

*evidence of our love 

"...if anyone loves me, he will keep my word..."

*means by which we experience God's love 

"...my Father will love him..." 

*and Christs...

"we will come to him and make our home with him..."

Heb 4:16  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jas 4:8  draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

The following shows how the latter is only possible because of the former. 

Heb 7:19  (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

Heb 10:22  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Heb 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

The following verse shows how we can never experience the former by our efforts/obedience to the law.

Heb 10:1  For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

The following passage shows how we are free to do the latter because the former has been fully taken care of. 

Romans 8:1-4 ¹There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For a more succinct explanation click here

Don't be weary in doing well

It is true that pursuing God takes energy and focus, which can be emotionally and physically draining over time. 

However, any endeavor worth pursuing can be emotionally and physically depleting as well. 

The key to being sustained in our pursuit of God is more internal (emotional/motivational i.e. in our spirit, if you will) than physical i.e. having the desire to press on, not just the physical stamina. In fact, great desire will push us to exceed what we may think is our physical limitations; the greater that desire the more we exceed those limitations. 

Being weary in doing well and using a lack of motivation as a reason to back off our pursuit of God, is merely an excuse. Not unlike choosing to not do that last set of reps during a workout. "No pain, no gain" applies to the spiritual, not just the physical. We are encouraged to not be weary in well doing for a good reason. 

Perseverance is in fact what exercises and strengthens our faith by constant and increased use. Though we may need to stop and rest on occasion (just as in a work out), it is good to remind ourselves we are also strengthening our faith each time we push ourselves to press on a little harder. 

Faith and hope sustain us

Even though pursuing God can be physically and emotionally draining it is also spiritually (not to mention eternally) rewarding and uplifting. 

Though our outer, physical man is buffeted and encounters numerous "thorns and thistles" in this fallen and broken world and our physical being fades away over time, our inward, spiritual man is renewed moment by moment, day by day each time it is exercised.  

It is important to remind ourselves that our minor momentary struggle is preparing for us a reward far greater in comparison. Not necessarily an immediate reward, but one that never fades and will last forever and ever. 

This is the essence of our hope. And it is this hope we are told to look to, to sustain us. 

2Co 4:16  "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory (i.e. of immense value) beyond all comparison, 18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen (i.e. as we operate in faith and anticipation (hope) of reward). For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Being a victim or playing one

Being a victim and "playing the victim" is not the same. Being a victim is rooted in the reality of being harmed i.e. you or someone else was really and truly hurt and suffered a loss of some kind - physically, emotionally, materially, reputation wise etc. - at the hands of another i.e. an offender. 

"Playing the victim" however is rooted in self-pity and seeking to garner the pity of others by using the harm-pain the victim has experienced to gain sympathy and even attempt to use it manipulate others. Someone may have been genuinely hurt, but "playing the victim" uses "victimhood" often to ¹exact revenge or seek a benefit (or both) from others in order to self-comfort or self-protect.

Being harmed is real as well as wrong and should be fully acknowledged and recognized for what it is. This is ²necessary to help the victim be freed from the offense, - i.e. to be able to forgive the offender - learn what they can through it - about God's forgiveness or self-forgiveness etc. - and move on with their life. 

Seeking self-pity by playing the victim is simply an attempt to self-love instead of depending on and looking to the God of love who ultimately uses all things - including offenses - for the good of those who love him.

Possibly the most important thing to know about unforgiveness (i.e. refusal or trouble in letting go of offenses) is it may be an indication you do not know your own great offenses against God (and others) and the forgiveness offered to you. 

For more on God's solution to offenses click here.

For a discussion on racism and forgiveness click here.

For a discussion on values, culture and racism click here.

For a personal story of being a victim of discrimination click here.

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¹I would suggest a great deal -- though certainly not all that drives the victim agenda in various forms -- sometimes referred to as "social justice" - e.g. "me too" "black lives matter" "men or whites are evil" feminism, racism, etc - is this very desire to hurt others because we have been hurt. To say it succinctly, playing the victim is usually rooted in revenge due to bitterness over past offenses. 

Though there are real issues (offenses) we must look at in all attempts at justice, we can not see offenses clearly until the underlying emotional hurt is addressed first i.e. forgiven. 

Anger/revenge rarely produces objective or clear thinking, no matter what position one takes on different issues. There is unrighteous anger on all sides of the political spectrum.

Any agenda driven by retaliation or retribution is not driven by love. No matter how offended we have been we are still called to love others... even our enemies. Christ modeled this himself best while hanging on the cross when he said "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" to those who put Him there. 

One remains in pain if a wound goes unaddressed/unhealed. This is why emotions are just under the surface for those in pain and easily triggered and so passionately vented when a new offense occurs - even if no offense actually occurred or was intended. When there is a real offense, often the response is out of proportion to the offense for those with a victim disposition and mentality. This is our first clue there is unresolved anger/bitterness from past offenses. A response-reaction that comes out of pain is never a rational one but almost always excessive and emotional e.g. filled with anger, hate, etc. 

People are often not able to explain why they are so easily triggered out of proportion to the offense because of it's deep roots (that fester up to the surface and are often ready to erupt at the slightest provocation). 

What is the solution? 

Forgiveness that springs forth from our being forgiven by God. This is so basic it is a major part of the Lord's prayer.

11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:11-13 (ESV)

²in order to truly and fully forgive and completely be freed we must know the full extent of the harm. To say it another way, if we forgive a small offense when a large one actually occurred, we are not getting to the bottom of the issue and therefore can not be fully freed from it. Forgiveness must be equal to the offense. 

Of course even more fundamental is recognizing the extent of our own offense against God himself and the length to which he went to remedy it... and did,  in and through Christ.  Without a clear understanding of our own offense to God and the full extent of his forgiveness of us, we can never truly and fully forgive others.

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Question...How do you feel about the picture to the right? Some may find it highly offensive. If you do, this actually serves to underscore my point. You may wish to dig inside a little to understand why. If you find yourself "triggered," angry or even feeling rage by this card, it may be a good indication you have unresolved bitterness over past offenses. 

You may be bothered by the picture for another reason. 

It is right to have compassion for those who have been harmed or broken in some way. Christ certainly did. Some may feel this picture mocks this and are bothered for this reason. And that is good. Not that you are offended, but that you care. A significant part of Christ's ministry was to heal those who were damaged - more so from physical than emotional pain, though these are often connected and not entirely separate. The pain people feel is real and deserves being acknowledged for what it is i.e. the fruit of living among broken people, in a broken world, and the harm that comes to us as a result. 

The pain of others should matter to us because it mattered to Christ. It matters to him because he also wrongfully suffered at the hands of others far more than any of us. 

When our pain produces humility we are on the road to healing. If it produces anger, anxiety, depression, etc we may have some work to do yet. 

I personally think the above card is a clever and appropriate analogy of how some use past offenses to "cash in" on their suffering. So would call this "playing the victim card." 

This would be more true of the "leaders" of the "victim movement" themselves, than the actual victims.

The spiritual and our spirit.

The spiritual is that which addresses our spirit which is the essence of our being i.e. our identity, our sense of value, our glory, our capacity to love and be loved and partake of and participate in God who is love, value, and glory.

We are also told God is Spirit. This is not arbitrary but essential to who God is and to understand not only God but ourselves. What makes God a person is not his physicality (he not physical but is Spirit). Therefore, as his image bearer, it is not the essence of our being a person ¹either as image bearers. Since God is not physical, this can not be the essence of who we are i.e. how we are like God. To say it another way, we don't say we have a nose like God (He doesn't have one) but we can say we give and receive love and have value like God - though only in quality, not quantity.  

We are the way we are because God is the way he is. We are like God. To say it another way, if we wish to understand who we are as spiritual beings, we must understand who God is as Spirit. 

The love of God is manifested as the Spirit of God. We are told God is love, and he is Spirit. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. The essence of God is love. When the bible says God is Spirit, it is saying God is love, and when it says God is love it is also saying God is Spirit. 

American theologian Jonathan Edwards says while ²the Word (Christ, the eternal Logos/Word) is the perfect self-understanding/ knowledge of God i.e. the light (truth) of God, the Spirit is the perfect love of God for himself as revealed in his Son. To say it another way, the Spirit is the "heat' or passion/love of God for Christ who is His perfect "self-image" if you will. Christ is the perfect expression of the truth/word/understanding
of God and the Spirit is the perfect expression of the love/emotion/ passion of God for himself as manifested in the Son. 

When the bible says God is love, it is also saying God is glorious. His being Spirit and glorious are primary ways of describing God as a being of love i.e. what makes God all glorious is because he is infinite love within himself as Father, Son, and Spirit, which overflows out to others like him i.e. us who are His image-bearers. 

The union/communion/ relationship that exists between the Father and Son is one of love manifested in, by, and through the Spirit. 

In order to partake in this exchange of love within the triune being that is God, we had to be like God i.e. have a spirit or be spiritual. This means we had to have the capacity to receive the outpouring overflow of love between the Father and Son in and by the Spirit and reflect it back to Him and out to others (other image-bearers of God).

This dynamic of who God is and who we are is encapsulated in the 1st and 2nd commandment to love God with all we are and have and our neighbor as ourselves.

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¹Though we are physical and our physicality is still good and not bad, it is not the essence of our being. The body can be dead, but we live on. 

And the value of the body is confirmed because we, as His children, will be given new bodies once our "earthly" body dies. So our body is important and will continue to be throughout eternity. We will exist through eternity as physical being but in a glorified state as Christ himself now does. 

Nevertheless, our body is the vessel that contains or holds the essence of who we are as God's image-bearers and will be glorified when we are with Christ face to face. 

Having a ³body is good and so significant Christ took on a body and is in that body to this very day and will be throughout eternity. Granted it is a glorified body and so will ours be as well.

²For a further discussion of these distinctions within the Trinity click here. 

For a discussion of how we are empowered by the Spirit click here.

³Christ existing throughout eternity in physical form says something of the goodness of creation as well as the value God places in it. 

It also demonstrates the humility of Christ and the willingness to be local and not everywhere present. 

But possibly most of all, the greatness of the love of Christ in being willing to thoroughly identify with us in this most complete way.  

Matters of the mind or heart?

Matters of the heart and matters of faith go hand-in-hand. If one is present, the other will also be.

 

When we take part in and engage God by faith, this is primarily an activity of our heart; of what we believe and trust to be true. 

This is in contrast to matters of the mind or understanding. We can clearly grasp something logically with our minds and even fully agree with it but not necessarily believe in it i.e. with our hearts. To simply comprehend something does not mean we wholly and fully believe it, or "buy into it" as they say. When you do, that means you "put your money where your mouth is," or have "skin in the game" i.e. your beliefs require or cost you something because they result in action i.e. an investment of resources/time/energy.

The evidence that we fully believe something versus merely grasping it in our minds is action/obedience. When we truly believe something, we act on it. If we merely grasp or comprehend something -- even if we fully agree it is according to truth -- but do not take action, we do not truly believe it.

When presented with the truth, we can positively respond in two ways. We can agree it is true, and we can believe it is true. When we agree, we are giving mental assent to something's truthfulness. When we believe it, we are acting on it and staking our resources/time/energy on its validity.

We cannot have the latter (faith) without the former (knowledge) but we can have the former without the latter.