Humans are naturally drawn towards money, power, status,
beauty, sex, pleasure and meaningful relationships. We want what we want
because we are convinced that when we get that
thing it will bring us joy. Sometimes these things bring us joy, other
times we end up disappointed. The good news is that there’s one source in this life that will never
disappoint us and that is God himself. In God we find the deep joy that our
souls crave from the day we are born.
In God we find the peace, meaning, joy and satisfaction that
we have spent our whole lives looking for. The good news of the Bible is that
God lovesevery single one of us, and that he has a great plan for our lives. Everything in our lives get new meaning
and purpose once we get to know God.
Over time we discover how everything in our lives is working
together for our good. God uses both our greatest achievements and our worst
mistakes to bring us closer and closer to our destiny. Some of our biggest
regrets in life will become exactly what God will use to bring us to where he
needs us to be, to a place where our purpose in life becomes crystal clear.
Commitment issues can keep us from experiencing success, real love and joy in life, but it's possible to overcome them. No matter what our goals are in life we need to be committed to the journey to reach our goals. Career success or a successful romantic relationship doesn't just happen to people by chance, we experience these blessings in life because we are committed to the work required to have these things in our lives. If we throw in the towel every time something gets hard in life we won't get to experience the joy of seeing our dreams come true.
We can't be successful in a romantic relationship without commitment. We can't be successful in our careers without commitment. What it comes down to in the end is this: How important is that relationship or career goal to you? If it's important you will commit, no matter how hard it will get sometimes. Commitment requires good character, self-discipline and passion.
Pastor Holly Wagner from Oasis Church in Los Angeles teaches a great sermon about excellence in this video. Holly talks about how God calls us to strive for excellence in whatever we do. Excellence means we won't do our job half-halfheartedly, we give it our best. It means we won't do our marriage half-halfheartedly, we give it all we've got. This is how God calls us to live our lives: "Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is,put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men" Colossians 3:23 (AMP)
Excellence doesn't mean "be perfect", excellence means we do the best we can in whatever we do. Excellence is about doing better today than you did yesterday, which makes it apparent that excellence will take more than just casual effort to obtain. Mediocre lives and average effort doesn't bring glory to God. God calls us to give our very best to whatever we do. If you are a painter do an excellent job at serving people this way, don't leave any paint stains on the windows and so on. If you are a nurse, do an excellent job at caring for the people who are your patients.
We can ask ourselves a few questions to determine how we are doing in the area of excellence. Are you treating with excellence everything that God has given you? Your job, are you better at it this year than you were last year? Are you giving it your best? If God has given you a family are you treating them with excellence, are you going above and beyond for them? Has God blessed you with a car? Are you treating that with excellence or are you just frustrated that you don't have a better car? When we serve people with excellence it pleases God and brings him glory. God gave everything to us, so how can we give Him anything less than our very best?
God calls each Christian to live a life of excellence. We are called to be examples of excellence in our speech, in loving others, in forgiveness etc. However, excellence will never be easy. Excellence always means stepping into something new. There is always work involved in excellence. We will never experience the life God desires for us from within our areas of comfort. It's not comfortable to change, it's not comfortable to work for excellence, but it's necessary if we are going to fulfill our life's purpose. Whatever you do, give it all you've got!
Celeste Headlee gives a great TED talk about finding the dream job. Nine out of ten people in America don't like their jobs, so it's safe to say that we are terrible at choosing the right job. Research shows that we tend to pick our jobs based on things like how much money we will make or how close to home the job is situated. None of these factors have been linked to happiness at work. Out of all the different factors that affect how happy we are at work the most important factor is purpose. People who feel that their work has significance and meaning are more than 3 times as likely to stay in their jobs and they also have higher job satisfaction and are more engaged at work.
We are all passionate about different things and born with different skills. Every job is important because we are all making a difference in this world, even if it might seem like we don't at first glance. Every day you go to work you have an opportunity to impact someone's life. Whatever you do, do it with excellence, because your work matters greatly.
