Key For Excellence. Genesis 39-40 Series

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Introduction: Do you go about your everyday activities with passion or just endure through the day? We serve a God of excellence and we are called for excellence. Excellence is an attitude that touches every area of your life. True excellence means you dedicate yourself fully to everything you do, as working for the Lord.

Joseph is one among many in the Bible who excelled in whatever he did.

How did Joseph excel? Genesis 39 gives us a glimpse of 5 qualities Joseph possessed that enabled him to excel. These qualities were the foundation for his growing influence while serving Potiphar, after being falsely accused of attempted rape, while serving in the prison, and as the second in command in Egypt.

1. Relationship with God.

Genesis 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered. A common theme is woven over and over throughout Joseph’s story is that “God was with Joseph and things went very well with him.”

God is with us if we are with him. James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Despite the unfair accusations hurled at Joseph, the depth of his relationship with God served as the firm foundation of his leadership and excellence. God’s will for your life is to be like him. God is more interested in who you are than what you are. Therefore, I believe that you are called to be excellent in your relationship with God and from that will flow excellence in your job, marriage, and all areas of life. Excellence begins God.

2. Management Skills.

Joke: A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner points to three identical looking parrots and said, “The parrot on the left costs Rs. 500/-) “Why does the parrot cost so much,” asks the man. The shop owner says, “well, the parrot knows how to use a computer.”

The man then asks about the next parrot to be told that this one costs Rs. 1000 because it can do everything the other parrot can do plus it knows computer programming.

Naturally, the increasingly startled man asks about the third parrot to be told that it Rs. 2,000. Needless to say this begs the question, “What can it do?” To which the shop owner replies, “to be honest I have never seen it do a thing, but the other two call him boss!”

Joseph was not a boss like this. Joseph did things with his own hands and climbed the ladder of success. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him.” When Joseph was thrown in prison, the head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Joseph eventually ended up managing the whole operation. Joseph’s excellence in management and organizational skills led to greater influence and responsibility.

You might argue that God simply opened all of the right doors and all Joseph had to do was walk through them. While there may be some truth to that statement, I would suggest that Joseph didn’t hinder God’s blessing because he demonstrated faithful stewardship of the abilities and skills God had entrusted to him. He came to Egypt as a 17-year-old slave but learnt the skill of management. He did not go to BBM or MBA but he did better than our graduates.

Excellence is developed in the details. If you do the little things diligently every day to improve, excellence becomes attainable. It’s all about implementation. Plan to be excellent, and then take every step necessary to fulfill that plan.

3. People Skills.

Joseph had a knack for connecting with people. The Bible says that Potiphar became very fond of Joseph and when Joseph was in prison, God put him on good terms with the head jailer. His God-given relational skills put him on good terms with people and fostered relational equity with others in positions of influence. Theodore Roosevelt said, “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” Joseph mastered that skill.

4. Unwavering Personality.

a. Character.

Joseph had repeated opportunities to sleep with Potiphar’s wife, but he resisted every one of them. Genesis 39:7 After a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

Genesis 39:10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Andy Stanley says, “Your accomplishments as a leader will make your name known. Your character will determine what people associate with your name.” Although Potiphar was furious, he had always associated Joseph’s name with character and integrity. Perhaps, in the depth of his soul, Potiphar knew Joseph was innocent.