Perhaps one of the biggest limitations most Christians are facing today is to make the best choices over those which are merely good. The following two lists seeks to contrasts the kinds of people who choose to just do "right things" as opposed to people who focus on choosing to do the "best things". Only through the leading of the Spirit of God and obedience to the will of God are we able to become more like the second list than the first.
Paul wrote, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. I beseech you therefore brethren to present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can prove and test what is the will of God, that which is good, acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 11:36-Rom. 12:2)
Illustration: Too many people are plagued with perfectionism.
This was the case for one bowler. Odds against rolling a perfect 300 in the game are about 225,000 to one. And one bowler appropriately collapsed when he qualified to join that brotherhood of 300. Another bowler just couldn’t bring himself to play the final ball of an otherwise perfect game. Instead he silently packed his shoes and ball and walked out -- and never again set foot inside a bowling alley!
Campus Life.
Illustration: After a long absence from the stage, pianist Vladimir Horowitz was to perform in Chicago. Franz Mohr, the chief concert technician for Steinway and Sons, was assigned to make sure the piano was in perfect condition. He did so to the best of his ability, but wasn’t able to relax until Horowitz had given a brilliant rendering of his first number. As was his custom, the pianist left the stage -- but didn’t return. Mohr was summoned backstage. "Where have you been?" exclaimed Horowitz. "I cannot play again. The piano stool is far too high!" Mohr nervously inquired at to the size of the problem. Horowitz held up his hand, his thumb and forefinger about a quarter of an inch apart.
Today in the Word, March 25, 1993.
(Errors to Avoid in Seeking the will of God) Characteristics of People Who Insist on Doing Things the Right Way
1. They are more interested in the microscopic details than on macroscopic goals
2. They are fond of looking for glitches in other people’s procedures
3. They tend to lack confidence in their ability to stay focused on any one goal for a long time.
4. They are apt to like the safety of committees that are more maintenance minded than productivity oriented
5. They love to show others that they have not made any mistakes
6. They have similarities to the one talent man in the parable of the 10 talents
7. They talk more about processes than results
8. They rarely grow into leadership positions
9. They talk more about processes than results
10. They usually live more by fear of making a mistake or being accused falsely than by faith
11. They love to associate with other critics, nay-sayers and skeptics who talk about people’s faults
12. They tend to get bogged down in details of one project
13. They tend to get bitter and resentful of people who seem to accomplish a great deal
14. They tend to take things personally when people do not agree with them.
15. They have a hard time discerning if something is really worth doing until they get into a project by faith
16. They are easily weighed down with pressures of shame and blame from others
17. They worry about where the next provision for their projects will come from
18. They tend to quit a lot of projects because they have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees
Characteristics of People Who Focus on doing the best Things For God’s Will
1. They are concerned about accomplishing the big goals through a variety of methods and means
2. They are fond of seeing others focus on accomplishing God’s great priorities
3. They are confident in the Lord’s ability to keep them from getting distracted from God’s goals
4. They are apt to focus on productivity for the Lord’s sake rather than merely being maintenance people
5. They love to show others how the Lord is using them to accomplish His kingdom’s goals
6. They are usually picked for leadership
7. They usually live more by faith than by fear of people and what they might do or say
8. They resemble the ten talented steward that used his gift to multiply it for the Master’s use
9. they love to associate with Godly people who are pursuing the planting and growth of the church
10. They have a diversified approach to seeing God’s goals accomplished so they are not bogged down by any one project
11. They choose to be better not bitter for any setback or difficulty.
12. They do not let criticisms discourage them because they know whom they believe.
13. They have great discernment to konw which projects will help accomplish God’s priorities.
14. They are not deterred by the blaming and shaming accusations of people because they are serving the Lord more than men.
15. They are confident that the Lord is able to supply all that they need according to His rich reservoir of resources.
16. They persist despite frustrations because they have their eyes on things above not on things which are troubling most on the earth.
