100 Percent: A Case for Excellence

At a recent leadership forum, my senior pastor challenged a group of church leaders to pursue excellence in ministry. The verse that came to my mind was:

“…so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” — Philippians 1:10.

 

Image by Khalilshah

God is an excellent God. But I sometimes get the feeling we’re offering Him only our ‘second best’. The One who gave His only Son to die for our sins deserves more commitment from us.

100% makes all the difference

The difference between excellence and mediocre is a tiny margin. This is true of average and awesome, gold and silver, good and bad. Talking of gold… do you know the typical difference between gold and silver medalists in a 100 metres sprint? You see my point.

God is not asking us for 120% —  100 will do.

And no one really has more than 100 percent to give. The pursuit of excellence will differentiate you from others intent on giving God 99.2%. The true joy of godly living and service comes to those who give everything.

Serve God with excellence in everything you do.

In ministry, give 100 percent.

In your family, give 100 percent.

In your academics, give 100 percent.

In your vocation, give 100 percent.

In living out your purpose, give 100 percent.

In writing, give 100 percent.

In preaching, give 100 percent.

In loving people, give 100 percent.

God’s grace makes it possible. Ask Him for help.

Don’t live in the shadows

God demands nothing less than what He deserves. Excellence is the difference between holiness and sentiment, perfection and permissiveness.

If you don’t serve God with excellence, you’ll always live in the shadow of others. Share this

Don’t live in the shadow of others when you have a mandate to honour Christ with your life. God has given you gifts to be used for His glory — don’t waste them.

Give 100 percent. Live 100 percent. Choose excellence.

Further reading

Ephesians 4:7-8, Romans 12:6-8