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"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,"
(Colossians 3:23, ESV)
"Just try your best" was something I heard often growing up in the Forshee home! Whether it came in the context of sports or school, the main instruction from my parents was to try my best. So, since childhood, I have generally given my maximum effort in everything I have done. When I would walk off a field or court at the end of a game or find out my grade on a school assignment, the question from my parents was, "Did you try your best?"
I am slowly realizing a pattern from my childhood. First, my parents are very wise and have shared a lot of amazing aphorisms with my siblings and I over the years. Second, although I definitely didn't understand most of the wisdom my parents were sharing with me as a kid, I sure am thankful they did! They wanted to make sure that I was always giving my best effort, trying to the very best of my ability to max out whatever I was doing. They were instilling in me a desire to be excellent and a strong work ethic.
Now, excellence is often hard to quantify or measure exactly. True excellence is not simply an A+ or a five-star rating; I believe it comes from standing out from the pack. After all, who in all history stood out more than Jesus, the pinnacle of righteousness, virtue, wisdom, and humility?
This week, since we are actively fixing our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise, let's continue to dive deeper into excellence today.
If we are to fix our thoughts on what is excellent, I believe we must scrutinize the effort we put into the things we do. We know God's love is lavished upon us, and we cannot earn any more or less of it. Striving for excellence is not an attempt to earn God's love or favor; it is a response of gratitude for all God has done for us, and it is one aspect of trying to emulate Christ. In today's Scripture verse, Paul gives us the command to do everything we do with the intent of working for the Lord and not for men. If we always remember that the Lord is watching all we do, how can we ever give less than our best effort?
If we can offer up everything we do as a sacrifice to the Lord and as an act of worship, how dare we not give our best effort! If we want to fix our thoughts on what is excellent, we must evaluate our efforts and increase them if they are lacking; we must take to heart Colossians 3:23 and do everything for the Lord and not for men.
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