Be Excellent

Today, we are called by God to stand out and be excellent at what we do. The times are continuously changing, and most of us feel like we are inside a jungle trying to survive from the tough competition with other people. As we go through our every day life balancing work, hobbies, family time and personal life, God wants us to slow down a bit, aim for excellence, balance everything and use our heart for victory.

Colossians 3:23 speaks to us, “Whatever you do, work it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

This is what God wants us to know when it comes to being excellent in what we do:

1. It is global – No matter what we do, whether for our work, school, community or family, we should give our 101%. Excellence is not defined in terms of how we achieve greatness, but on how please our God.

Last Sunday, I was watching the Indian movie “3 Idiots” directed by Rajkumar Hirani. It was all about 2 friends looking for their long lost buddy Rancho. While looking for Rancho, they were backtracking the past when they were still taking up College of Engineering. Their friend Rancho taught them a lot of things about education, the process of studying, passing your grades and actually learning something. I find this movie very relevant because sometimes, we aim on being the best, but not looking through what God teaches us. We’d rather compete with others and get high grades than actually learning and reflecting on what we have contributed to our society.

One of my the favorite quotes from the movie was delivered by Farhan Qureshi:

“Today my respect for that idiot shot up. Most of us went to college just for a degree. No degree meant no plum job, no pretty wife, no credit card, no social status. But none of this mattered to him, he was in college for the joy of learning, he never cared if he was first or last.”

2. God wants our best – In the biological sense, a heart is a chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system.

From the scriptures, we are taught by Leviticus 17:11

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.”

Your passion and motivation will always be your drive to be the best at what you do, but your heart will always be the fire that will help you function for your dreams, aspirations, work, family and anything that God asked you to do. You shouldn’t count how your time runs, see through the quality of your life and even weigh in the quantity of your riches, because your focus should be on giving all your heart to every aspect of your life. You don’t need someone to watch over you. As long as you know that you are offering your time, treasures and talents, God will continuously provide.

3. Every work is dedicated to God

Here are 3 Bible verses which would remind us of how we should surrender ourselves to God:

Matthew 6:4 "So that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven"

Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing”

God may sometimes give us the hardest challenges unimaginable, but let’s remember that He will definitely not leave us. We should learn how to wait, listen and look into what He is teaching us. We should be patient and enduring, for our Lord will always have a moral lesson to every situation, every experience and every aspect of our life. Let’s stop complaining and start doing everything for the glory of God.

All in all, Colossians 3:23 is teaching us how important it is to never settle for less with our lives. Mediocrity is not a sin, but the acts associated with it leads us to stay stagnant with our lives, and not improve on the things that we can control. Whenever we experience depression, burn out and restlessness with our work, studies, family and personal life, let us not forget that our God is ever powerful, and that He will always provide.

For so many years of going through my studies, working for my internship, venturing on a freelance job, I’ve realized one thing: Your motivation will always come from God. If you live your life centered on Him, you will always have a direction and core. My life may not be perfect, but I have my God to thank and live for.